Château d'Yquem
Chateau d'Yquem
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Thieves suspected of stealing hundreds of bottles of Bordeaux wine produced by some of the region's top chateaux have been put on trial this week.

Chateau d’Yquem was burgled in 2013.

The case follows on from a mass police operation involving 300 French gendarmes and months of detective work, which led to dawn raids and arrests across France in February 2014.

Nicknamed ‘Casse vin’, police believe the suspects were responsible for a string of burglaries at chateaux in including Yquem, Palmer and Leoville Las Cases.

It is thought the total value of wine stolen is around 1m euros.

Tribunal hearings for the 17 defendants are expected to last until Thursday 25 June.

At the time of the police raids last year, Colonel Ghislain Rety, who led the operation, said officers recovered some bottles worth more than 1,000 euros each.

Police recovered ‘many hundreds’ of bottles, he said. It is also believed that thieves attempted to sell some wines abroad.

In one of the burglaries believed to be part of the case, Chateau d’Yquem lost 380 half-bottles of its 2010 vintage from its own cellars.

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Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.