Comments on: Chateau Razorwire? Grape thefts in three countries

By: winelibrary (Wine Library)

winelibrary (Wine Library) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:06:07 +0000

Twitter Comment

Grape thefts from vineyards on the rise. Interesting post by @drvino - [link to post] ^JP

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By: missaesthetic (BLeeYoung)

missaesthetic (BLeeYoung) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:52:05 +0000

Twitter Comment

Mobsters,Grapes & Bears, Oh My! RT @WineLibrary: Grape thefts from vineyards on the rise.Interesting post by @drvino - [link to post]

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By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 02:23:13 +0000

Jarrod – glad you came aboard then and have stuck with SS Vino!

By: Jarrod H.

Jarrod H. — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:24:34 +0000

Hahaha shout out to Vayner-nation!!!

‘Episode #771 – Dr. Vino visits WLTV’ is definitely how I was introduced to this site, but maybe Dr. Vee is too much…

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:11:58 +0000

PS – maybe they are selling the grapes for $2.49/lb at Whole Foods?

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:08:56 +0000

Jarrod – thanks for passing around the post–it is an interesting, if bizarre, series of heists. And don’t rule out crimes of passion!

Too funny with the Dr. Vee! Vee-no-chuk?

By: Jarrod H.

Jarrod H. — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 23:19:56 +0000

I’ve been passing this post around, online and in conversation, and the consensus seems to be what @Dale brought up and Dr. Vee seconded. Its not very likely that the grapes are going to travel very far for vinification.

That said, what about the possibility that the grapes aren’t being stolen to make wine at all? Is it possible that the vignerons are simply reporting the grapes stolen and collecting crop insurance? Something equally machevellian would be the possibility that it was simply vandalism. Some pickers from a competitor simply stealing the grapes to prevent competition?

Regardless, if I were on the case I’d check the local ravines and pig farms…

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:01:14 +0000

@Jarrod – sounds like Peter Mayle material.

@Mark – nice!

@Dale – yes, that’s just it–who would the thief sell the grapes to especially in the absence of paperwork? If I were on the case, I’d look to local vignerons who had the equipment to harvest that many grapes that quickly and the scale to pass it off as their own production.

Here’s a brief video from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11442633

By: DaleW

DaleW — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:41:49 +0000

I’m having a lot of trouble at the idea of a comparison to “upmarket” antique/art thieves. In the absence of a provable source, they can’t be bottled as anything other than VdT or the equivalent, right? If I wanted to steal a few rows of Musigny, I couldn’t label it as Musigny. One might find an eccentric millionaire to buy a Vermeer for his hidden private collection, but no one is going to buy Languedoc CS for their own use.

By: Mark Freeh

Mark Freeh — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:46:06 +0000

Caught red handed?

By: Jarrod H.

Jarrod H. — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:23:20 +0000

I cannot believe that the grapes were stolen OFF THE VINE!!! Imagine the coordination that would have to go into something like that. How would you explain yourself if the nosey neighbor happened to catch you? “No sir, wearing black clothing in the middle of the night is the way you are supposed to pick mourvedre…” You’d think that they would just steal the truck after it had been loaded with the freshly picked grapes… Not a bad premise for a movie btw, maybe call it ‘the grape escape’?

Zing!