“They stole my van, without a break-in, without anything. It didn’t have the key on it. It was parked 20 meters from my house, but at night, you don’t hear anything anyway. They apparently does it nicely.”, describes Bernard Barse. This winegrower, owner of Domaine les Graves in Gageac-et-Rouillac (Dordogne), was victim of a theft on the night of Monday May 27 to Tuesday May 28.
“It’s starting to be a lot”
The winegrower noticed that his utility vehicle had disappeared when he left his house, the next morning. He immediately called the police, who came to take his complaint on the spot. “It’s annoying because this white Renault Trafic is my professional vehicle, the one with which I make deliveries, marketssays Bernard Barse. He was four years old, 30,000 kilometers old. The redemption value according to my mechanic is around €27,000.”.
Bernard Barse’s neighbors offered him their help, but it remains a situation “complicated”, says the winegrower soberly. Especially since he has already been victim of the violent hailstorm which hit the area on May 5. 80 to 90% of its harvest is lost: “It’s starting to feel a lot. We feel a little exhausted”.
A second vineyard affected
After this theft in Gageac-et-Rouillac, the thieves went, with the just stolen Renault Trafic, to another wine grower less than three kilometers away, in Pomport. They broke down the door of the Montlong estate store. They left with the hundred euros that the crate contained, but they did not steal any bottle of wine.
The link between the two burglaries was quickly made, because, the next morning, the winegrowers’ daughter found leaflets from the Les Graves estate on the ground in front of the Montlong estate store. The thieves have not yet been identified, the police are looking for them. They call on all Bergerac wine growers to exercise caution.
