For decades, our family has welcomed guests to L’Auberge Provençale for the kind of experience that’s rare today: warm hospitality, French-inspired cuisine, and a wine cellar built bottle by bottle through relationships, patience, and deep respect for the craft.
That’s why what happened on November 19, 2025, felt so surreal. What began as a seemingly normal request from prospective “event planners” quickly became a deliberate, pre-planned theft targeting some of the rarest wines in the world, including bottles from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC).
A Cellar Decades in the Making
Our cellar is not just a collection. It’s part of the story of L’Auberge itself, and it’s one of the things we’ve always been proud to share. Over the years, it has grown to thousands of bottles across a wide range of producers and regions, with some of the most coveted names in Burgundy represented on our list.
Certain wines, like DRC, are so limited that acquiring them is about far more than price. Access comes from long-term relationships and a reputation for stewardship, which is why this loss has been so heartbreaking.
Security footage of the L’Auberge Provencale wine heist suspects prior to them stealing the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
The Request That Seemed Believable, Until it Wasn’t
A man and a woman arrived in the late afternoon (around 4:45 p.m.) and requested a tour, presenting themselves as event planners evaluating the property for a wealthy Canadian client.
The woman engaged our team with detailed questions, including questions about storage conditions in the cellar, while her companion lingered nearby in a long overcoat.
Security footage showing Christian Borel and the suspects in the wine cellar during the theft.
The Deliberate Swap Inside the Cellar
Once inside the cellar, the pair carried out a calculated swap: they removed genuine bottles and left behind screw-cap decoys designed to delay detection. The stolen bottles were concealed in hidden pockets of the man’s coat. They then wrapped up the tour abruptly and exited the cellar.
Almost immediately, something felt wrong. As the visit ended, our sommelier, Christian Borel, returned downstairs and spotted the substitutions. He rushed back upstairs to alert the team, and the suspects fled.
Security footage showing the suspects quickly trying to leave with Christian Borel in pursuit.
The Chase and the Split-second Decisions Outside
What happened next unfolded in seconds. Staff members, including a brand-new hire, sprang into action—and an on-site guest jumped into his Porsche to help pursue the suspects toward their getaway vehicle, a New Jersey rental parked out of view.
In the confrontation that followed, the woman was detained on-site, while the man managed to get into the SUV and speed away.
What Was Taken, and What Was Recovered
Among the bottles stolen was a DRC Romanée-Conti, along with other DRC selections, in what authorities believe was a carefully planned theft.
Two bottles, a 2019 Échézeaux and a 2021 Grands Échézeaux, were recovered shortly after the escape after being thrown into the grass. Later, two additional bottles were returned through law enforcement after being missing for months.
While the recovery of the bottles was an important development, it did not fully undo the loss. Wines of this caliber depend on provenance, storage conditions, and an unbroken chain of custody. Once a bottle has been out of the cellar for months, there is no way to know whether it was stored properly, exposed to heat, handled carefully, or tampered with. For that reason, the recovered bottles can no longer be confidently offered to guests or collectors.
Watch: Christian Borel Tells the Story in His Own Words
Prefer to hear the full story directly from our sommelier, Christian Borel? In the video below, he walks through what happened, what tipped him off, and the moments that followed.
Case Update: One Suspect Sentenced, the Other Still at Large
The case has since moved forward in Clarke County Circuit Court. Natali Ray, a British national, pleaded guilty to two counts of grand larceny, two counts of possession of burglary tools, and one count of defrauding an innkeeper in connection with the theft.
Ray was sentenced to one active year in prison, followed by 10 years of unsupervised probation upon release.
Photo courtesy of Clarke County Sheriff’s Office
The second suspect, Serbian national Nikola Krndija, 57, remains at large. Investigators believe he left the United States the day after the incident, traveling from New York’s JFK Airport to Vienna, Austria, after leaving his car in Georgetown.
Our case has continued to draw attention as part of a broader pattern of high-end wine thefts. In June 2026, thieves dressed as construction workers broke into Affinatore, a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winner in Milan, and stole 19 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti worth approximately $320,000. In its coverage of the Milan theft, Wine Spectator pointed back to the L’Auberge Provençale case as a related incident.
Authorities have also investigated whether the pair may have been connected to similar schemes targeting other high-end wine establishments, suggesting the theft may have been part of a broader pattern.
Moving Forward
We are profoundly grateful for the courage and quick thinking shown by our staff and the guests who stepped in to help in a high-stress, fast-moving situation. We are also working to strengthen cellar security and internal protocols while continuing to offer the gracious experience that defines L’Auberge Provençale.