A TEAM of North East wine makers are seeing red after thieves caused them to lose more than $440,000 worth of cabernet sauvignon.
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More than 22,000 litres of the 2008 vintage red wine ran down the drain following a break-in at Bailey’s of Glenrowan winery.
Winemaker and manager Paul Dahlenburg described the loss of wine as tragic.
“The staff are deflated,” he said.
“We take so much care to save every drop.
“We take a lot of pride in what we do so we’re all pretty upset.
“It’s just infuriating to think that people would stoop to that level and cause such a tragic loss.”
Mr Dahlenburg said the break-in was noticed early Monday morning, after thieves broke into the winery the weekend previous.
He said they opened a valve on the tank that stored the wine to steal some, but turned it too far.
It sprung open and they were not able to close it again.
There was little mess when staff arrived to start work on Monday because the wine had dripped slowly from the tank and into a drain.
Mr Dahlenburg said there was no evidence of how the offenders got into the cellar door, and he believed they came to winery on foot.
Mr Dahlenburg said there was no 2007 edition of the cabernet sauvignon, making the loss even more difficult to take.
“We haven’t had a vintage since 2006, because in 2007 we had a bad drought and bushfires,” he said.
“We’ve put a lot of time and care into it this one,” he said.
A 750ml bottle of the wine sells retail for $20.
Mr Dahlenburg said there would be no price increases as a result.
“Our business is just going to have to absorb the cost,” he said.
A large white, red and black flag was also stolen from the Taminick Gap Road cellar door.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the vicinity of the winery at the time of the break-in should contact police at Benalla on (03) 5762 1811 or the winery on (03) 5766 2392.
