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The Couple Who Walked Out With $1m Of Wine

Audacious theft nets a hugely valuable haul.

Andy Killoran
5 min readDec 10, 2021
https://pixabay.com/photos/wine-old-harvest-drink-barrel-4963893/

The English speaking guests who had booked for dinner in the restaurant and to stay overnight were…different. No one was quite sure what was wrong, but adding two and two kept giving a result other than four.

The woman was clearly wearing a wig: Well, that’s OK, no crime there. The man, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, had bulging biceps and was not really the image of the typical client of this very upmarket Spanish fine dining restaurant and hotel: But again, so what? The maitre’d knew from experience that people with money did not always follow any pattern (or many rules) and that someone who spent $1 on a sandwich for lunch might go on to order a $6,000 bottle of wine to accompany their dinner.

This couple checked in and produced Swiss passports (which later proved to be faked). The woman checked in with only a small bag, and the man had no luggage at all. They ordered the $200-per-person seven-course tasting menu for dinner but seemed not to be enjoying their food. The atmosphere was awkward, and the staff formed the impression that the couple were unfamiliar with this type of food.

Two-Michelin-starred Atrio in the south-western Spanish city of Caceres serves Spanish-inspired dishes of the finest quality, but…

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Andy Killoran
Andy Killoran

Written by Andy Killoran

British guy. Loves writing — loves words. Loves reading. Loves Medium. Twitter @andykilloran

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