Thieves steal 87 rare wines in planned heist at Aarhus restaurant

Thieves stole 87 rare bottles from the wine cellar of Frederikshøj, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Aarhus, in a carefully planned break-in late Wednesday, DR reports. The restaurant’s head chef and co-owner, Wassim Hallal, said the haul could be worth more than one million kroner.

The thieves cut a hole about 40 centimetres wide in a pane of toughened glass and crawled inside. Breaking the glass would have triggered an alarm, Hallal said. They then moved through a blind spot in the sensor coverage and spent a couple of hours choosing bottles from the restaurant’s wine storage.

Security footage shows cars entering a wooded area and people passing bottles hand to hand across the parking lot. Hallal said the operation involved more than two people. When a runner passed nearby, the thieves stepped into the woods and resumed their work after the runner had gone.

Hallal said the restaurant had received the highest security rating from its insurer in December and had advanced camera and alarm systems. The thieves nevertheless knew about a blind spot that he and his staff had not been aware of. The alarm sensors have since been adjusted, he said.

Some of the stolen bottles had been part of Hallal’s collection for more than 25 years and cannot be replaced, he said. The insurer is still assessing the value of the stolen wine and damage to the restaurant.

The restaurant has published a list of the stolen wines and is asking wine enthusiasts to contact it or the police if they are offered any of the bottles. The list includes a 1993 Château Mouton Rothschild, a 1975 Château Latour and a 2006 Screaming Eagle.