Madrid’s “Coque” has two Michelin stars – and an unrivaled wine cellar: it holds 30,000 bottles of fine wines including, according to sommelier Rafael Sandoval, pearls that have been in the Sandoval family’s possession for three generations.
A bottle, for example, dates from 1805, a rarity, a priceless specimen. Other wines in the sacristy, as the cellar is known among connoisseurs, come from expensive French chateaux: Le Pin, Pétrus, Angélus, Mouton Rothschild.
Three-liter bottle of Pétrus stolen
And it’s exactly the expensive wines that a gang of thieves are after, who broke into the cellar on Monday and stole 132 bottles. One of these is a three-litre bottle of Pétrus 2002, which costs up to 25,000 euros.
The thieves apparently got into the basement through the empty pharmacy next door. And since the restaurant is closed on Mondays, the theft wasn’t discovered until Tuesday. The thieves entered without sounding the alarm and were finally able to help themselves in peace.
Value of the loot more than 150,000 euros
The total value of the loot would be around 150,000 euros, the police told “El Pais”. All stolen bottles may have been worth more than $1,500. Rafael Sandoval told police that the thieves only went after the wine and did not steal anything else from the restaurant.
He believes in commissioned work. “You have to understand that there is a black market in the wine world,” he told El Pais. “We are one of the most important wineries in Spain.”
Sandoval, who was named Spain’s best sommelier in 2018, also warned that there could be a group specializing in wine theft. Last year, thousands of dollars worth of wine was stolen from another Spanish restaurant.
Cristina Pérez Olmos, the restaurant’s spokeswoman, says the theft came as a shock: “Economically, it’s just money, but you have to see all the work behind it.” (neo)