obvious, you see them, and still he goes on and steals the bottle. what was this customer thinking? in miami, nobody loves wine more than eddie lagaric. the owner of w wine boutique. it s magic because of all the grape juice, you can discover the miracle of strawberry, blueberry, vanilla. that grape juice can get expensive. i think the best sales that we ve done is a case of three bottles for $36,000, which goes down to $12,000 a bottle. that s right. $12,000 a bottle. eddie keeps these rare and expensive wines in a highly specialized room called the 100-point room. the 100-point room has its own temperature system where we keep all the older vintages, rare to find, very limited wine, all the gems. in october 2009, the 100-point room receives an
unwelcome visitor. w wine boutique is bustling with activity as the miami beach elite taste a premiere champagne. from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., we are doing champagne testing. we had about 80 to 90 people, so the store was very, very busy. just after 7:00 p.m., a customer comes in and heads straight for the back. trying to look casual, he checks out the back door. then he surveys the 100-point room. no one in sight. satisfied with his scouting mission, the wine bandit decides it s time to make his move. eddie lagaric has it all caught on camera. right now he s grabbing the italian wine underneath and gets ready to switch his for the cheap italian wine. as he reaches for the expensive bottle, a 1990 lafite rothschild, other customers pass right by the room, nearly catching him red-handed, but the
rothschild, other customers pass right by the room, nearly catching him red-handed, but the man makes the switch. taking the pricey bottle and leaving the cheaper italian wine in its place. right now he s leaving the room, acting like he s interested in the other wines. with the bottle in hand, this not-so-stealthy shopper takes a peek up at the security cameras. he s probably thinking, are the cameras on or off? this customer isn t headed for the checkout counter. he s waiting for the right moment to make his escape, but with shoppers nearby, he has to stall. finally, he takes the expensive vintage and excuse me, sir, is that a bottle of wine in your shorts? it s probably not easy to walk out with a bottle of wine in your pants. the next day, eddie is shocked to find the bottle of lafite rothschild is gone. on the open market, this bottle is worth between, i would
rosenbaum s desk. i, myself, drove the bottle of wine over there, went into the shop, delivered the bottle of wine, and that was it. rosenbaum asks only that eddie sign a release, stating he won t prosecute the offender and eddie agrees. since the value of the wine was about $1,000, it would be considered grand theft third-degree in florida where the sentence maximum is five years, down to probation. but the bottle was dropped off anonymously and not even rosenbaum knows who the wine bandit is. to this date, i don t know if anybody s ever identified the person that s portrayed on the video taking the bottle of wine. the thief remains as deep and as mysterious as the lafite rothschild itself. luckily, eddie doesn t have any sour grapes about the theft. the owner was very grateful and very nice. he showed me some french wine, which i knew was a decent wine, so i bought two bottles. to celebrate the missing bottle s happy homecoming, eddie opens the now infamous lafite
in october 2009, the 100-point room receives an unwelcome visitor. w wine boutique is bustling with activity as the miami beach elite taste a premiere champagne. from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., we had a champagne testing. we had about 80 to 90 people, so the store was very, very busy. just after 7:00 p.m., a customer comes in and heads straight for the back. trying to look casual, he checks out the back door. then he surveys the 100-point room. no one in sight. satisfied with his scouting mission, the wine bandit decides it s time to make his move. eddie lagaric has it all caught on camera. right now he s grabbing the italian wine underneath and gets ready to switch his for the cheap italian wine. as he reaches for the expensive bottle, a 1990 lafite