On the surface it all looked so glossy, glamourous and successful.
The proprietors live in a 9,000-square-foot butter-yellow coloured mansion.
They oversee a funky winery with award-winning wines and a No. 1 TripAdvisor rating.
People sip wine in a one-of-a-kind tasting room with 3D glasses on to get the full psychediclic and kaleidoscope experience of the trippy shrink-wrapped bottles and art.
There are concerts on the lawn in the summer and fun indoor events in the winter.
This is Vibrant Vine Winery at 3240 Pooley Rd. in East Kelowna.
But all those good times have come to an abrupt end.
The winery is now closed.
This month the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered Vibrant Vine into receivership after receiving a petition from Bank of Montreal, which Vibrant Vine owes $6.8 million and has run out of means to repay.
Deloitte Restructuring Inc. has been appointed the receiver and has put the 11.3-acre Vibrant Vine property up for sale for $7 million to recoup money for Bank of Montreal and some unpaid property taxes.
Seventeen years ago, Wyn and Marion Lewis, who made their money in international banking, purchased the property and launched the winery featuring shrink-wrapped labels by their artist son, Phil Lewis.
People loved the concept and Vibrant Vine received a lot of attention from locals, tourists, media and wine competitions.
The Lewises lived on the property in a 9,000-square-foot home with a swimming pool surrounded by vineyards.
The winery building and tasting room was closer to Pooley Road.
In 2023, after Wyn had a health scare, the Lewises decided to put Vibrant Vine up for sale so the couple could retire and spend more time with family and travelling.
At the time, the property was listed for sale for $13.5 million, was touted as an unparalleled and rare opportunity and included the whole 11.3 acres with the mansion, 6 acres of vineyard and 7,500-square-foot winery building and entertainment lawn.
The listing by receiver Deloitte includes the exact same property, listed for sale for $7 million, which just enough to repay Bank of Montreal, some outstanding property taxes and, supposedly, Deloitte's fee.
BC Assessment pegs the property as worth $5.8 million.
If the Lewises could have sold the winery for $13.5 million in 2023, they could have easily paid Bank of Montreal $6.8 million and also realized millions in profit as a cushy nestegg.
Instead, two sales came close, but never materialized, and the resulting financial squeeze forced the current receivership under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
