The end of Thomas & Vaughan?

Back when I started being serious about Ontario wine, Thomas & Vaughan was one of my favourite wineries. Michael Pinkus reports that things went from bad to worse to disastrous:

[T]he most recent chapter in the Thomas and Vaughan story is a long complicated one, full of missteps, misjudging and missed opportunity. Suffice it to say that the new owners had no idea about being in the wine business here in Ontario. They screwed over many growers and suppliers, delayed payments, ordered too much Icewine, and (gasp) pulled out the almost twenty year old Cabernet Franc vines from the estate vineyard, claiming that nobody knows or buys that stuff. I met the now (or soon to be) former owner once, at the Ontario Wine Awards, and it was my impression that he was as arrogant as he was clueless about the wine industry: my brief discussion about his pricing policy fell on deaf ears. Recently, the winery has fallen into receivership by decreed of BDO (according to the note on the now shuttered doors) — there are also rumours about wine being secreted out of cellar just days before the bank came by with their padlocks . . . true or not there seems to be little question as to the fate of the winery. There is a bright spot in all of this. Some of those who were negatively affected by the shenanigans of the owner might have found a way to bring some of the “spectacular” 2007 vintage wines to market; we'll have to all wait and see. As for Thomas & Vaughan, some believe this is the end of the road for this once illustrious winery; others are wondering if financing can be secured so that the winery can resume regular operations. In either case, things look grim at T&V.

One of my earliest blog posts was about Thomas & Vaughan:

Unfortunately, we learned yesterday that the winery has been taken over by EastDell, and that therefore the prices on the website are out of date. The Cabernet 2001 blend is now $14.95 per bottle, which makes it rather less of a deal than it used to be. Expect things to be up in the air while the new owners decide what to do with their acquisition.

There was also a post from later in 2004 which included an interesting detail which seems to coroborate what Michael refers to in his article:

Thomas & Vaughan was purchased earlier this year by neighbouring EastDell Estates, so the staff has completely changed over from our last visit. The new owners are running T&V as a separate operation, so the name and brand will continue to be used.

Visiting the winery was rather sad, however, because during the time we were there, a local artist came in and took down all of the art that he'd had hanging on the walls of the tasting room. I didn't get the details, but it sure left the place looking half-abandoned.