FIFTEEN people went on trial yesterday for stealing nearly 4,000 bottles of Grand Cru wines worth £720,000 from several Bordeaux chateaux.

The alleged thieves were arrested last year in a sting operation – called Cassevin, or Winebreak – involving 300 police in four regions of southwest France and Paris.

The men are accused of mounting a “highly organised” operation to steal some of the world’s most expensive and inaccessible bottles from merchants and 13 renowned chateaux, including Margaux, Lafite Rothschild, Yquem and Haut-Bailly.

These are “among the most prestigious wines from the [Bordeaux] 1855 ranking or the Saint-Émilion classification,” said a local expert.

Prosecutors claim the bottles were sold on to wellheeled wine lovers and restaurants. The defendants include an uncle and nephew alleged to be the masterminds of the scheme, two teachers and a political sciences professor from a Paris university.

Investigators claim the gang stole 3,771 bottles and made a profit of £250,000 between June 2013 and February 2014. The thefts spread fear among the top chateaux, with owners wondering who would be next on the burglars’ list.

Col Ghislain Réty, a gendarmerie commander, said: “It was highly organised. They would steal a van and head to the vineyards and load up several dozen cases of wine.”

Eric Baille, head gendarme of Mérignac, added: “The criminals were well-versed in surveillance and armed robbery.”

Hundreds of bottles were recovered along with a large amount of cash and weapons.