In an apparent act of large-scale vandalism, much of the last six vintages of Case Basse di Soldera, perhaps the greatest producer of Brunello di Montalcino, was destroyed Sunday night, the Italian winery said in a statement Tuesday.

The winery’s former American importer, Paolo Domeneghetti of Domaine Select Wine Estates, said intruders had entered the wine cellar, near the town of Tavernelle, south of Montalcino, and opened up large vats holding wine dating from the 2007 vintage up through 2012, draining the wine onto the floor. Gianfranco Soldera, the proprietor of the estate who resides above the cellar, discovered the damage the next morning, Mr. Domeneghetti said.

“Some wine is left, but the majority of the stuff is gone,’’ said Mr. Domeneghetti, who had spoken by phone with Mr. Soldera. “We still don’t understand what happened.’’

In its statement, the winery estimated the loss at 62,600 liters, the equivalent of almost 84,000 bottles. Bottles of the 2006 Soldera, the last vintage released, sell for $250 to $350.

The winery also said that no bottles had been stolen. Regulations require Brunello to be aged in wood for two years and in bottles for another two, but Mr. Soldera takes an extreme approach, keeping his wine in huge barrels of old oak for five or six years, and sometimes more.

Mr. Domeneghetti said that the damage was covered by insurance, and that nobody was hurt. But insurance doesn’t cover a life’s work. “He’s freaking out, of course,’’ he said of Mr. Soldera.

News reports had suggested that the destruction might have been linked to organized crime, but Mr. Domeneghetti dismissed the notion.

Other speculation centers on Mr. Soldera’s role in the scandal that racked Brunello di Montalcino in 2008, when a number of leading producers were indicted on charges of blending unauthorized grapes into their Brunello di Montalcinos, which by law is supposed to be made only of the sangiovese grape. The scandal was only the most outward symptom of a deeper identity crisis, as producers have spent years debating how Brunello should be made and how it should taste.

Mr. Soldera is among the staunchest defenders of traditional Brunello, and he rarely restrains himself from questioning the practices of his neighbors. He has not been diplomatic in criticizing their wines, or modest in assessing his own, which he regards as one of the few great wines in the world. While wine-lovers around the world admire the gorgeous purity and grace of his wines, he is not beloved among his peers.

Among the contentious issues in Montalcino is whether the wine should be aged in small barrels of new French oak, known as barriques. Proponents suggest that traditional Brunello is too austere, and that barriques can soften the wine, making it more accessible while adding vanilla and chocolate flavors that are popular with some consumers. Mr. Soldera scoffs at such thinking.

“If a producer puts wines in barriques, it’s because he has bad wine, without tannins,’’ Mr. Soldera told me in 2006. “He must replace the tannins and aromas with what is gained from the barriques.”

Indeed, Mr. Soldera is obsessive in his farming and his winemaking, sometimes to the point where others regarded him as eccentric. His cellar was built with walls of crushed rock encased in wire mesh rather than of cement, which he believes destroys wine. He does not permit visitors to his cellar to spit the wine after they have tasted it.

The wine is so beautiful that few visitors mind. “Our thoughts and actions, at the moment, are directed solely to the future,” the statement said, “because no intimidation can stop our work and passion for this land and the products it yields.”