$215 WINES-A STEAL

DROP THE keys or I’ll drop you!”

That’s how a gun-toting thief greeted the driver of a liquor truck on the morning of July 3 as he finished making a delivery to the Simon David Supermarket at Inwood Road and University Boulevard The truck, which belonged to Fort Worth-based Tarrant Distributors, one of the largest wine and spirits distributors iii the Dallas-Fort Worth area, contained an estimated $35,000 worth of liquor.

But the truck had something else on board: eight cases of 1989 vintage grand cru Burgundy, among the most prized wines in the world,

“We don’t think they robbed the truck to get our wine,” says Marty’s wine director Jasper Russo, whose store was to receive the highly sought-after Burgundy, “They were probably after the [liquor] and our stuff just happened to be on it.”

The wines, Romanee St. Vivant and Grands Escezeaux from the famed estate Domaine de la Romanee-Conti (DRC), would have retailed for $215 a bottle at Marty’s. Russo contacted all of the major liquor stores and distributors in Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma and Louisiana and posted notices on the Internet urging those in the trade to keep their eyes peeled for the DRC.

“It’s going to stick out-that wine is the marker,” adds Russo. “Its like stealing a Van Gogh. Where you gonna sell it if everyone knows?”