CCTV footage shows intruder spilling R50m's worth of wine at Spanish winery

Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest news from the UK and Europe on Weekend Breakfast. 

(Skip to1 3:28 for the winery discussion)

A Spanish winery has suffered losses amounting to around R50 million (more than €2.5 million) after someone entered its cellar to open selected vats and spill their contents.

60 000 litres of wine ran onto the floor, literally going down the drain.

Cepa 21 provided CCTV footage showing the unidentified, hooded person moving between the vats in the early morning hours and rapidly opening them.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey reports that the intruder targeted the winery's most expensive varieties.

Was it most likely an inside job?

While there are no grounds to suspect current or former employees according to police, Grey floats some theories.

"It looks like this could be an aggrieved employee, or it could be somebody within who somehow thinks that the company will benefit from the loss of this wine."

"Of course in wine circles, who knows, it could be an employee who just thinks actually this isn't very good quality and they need to get rid of it!"

Gavin Grey, UK correspondent

It's quite clear from the footage that the culprit knows exactly what they're doing and exactly where to go, Grey says.

"You see him go through the winery grounds, into the building, and then move between the tanks, opening them rapidly...The winery says its very hard to open the tanks, which include a security mechanism."

"Interestingly, whoever did it, knew which were the really expensive variety, because I'm afraid bottles of those sell for roughly R800."

Gavin Grey, UK correspondent

Listen to Grey's report (at 13:28) in the interview clip and check out the CCTV footage below: