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The OPP crime unit is treating the incident at 455 Seacliff Dr., as mischief and asks anyone with information to call 1-888-310-1122.

Pelee Island Winery declined to comment, and the OPP had no further details.

“We are extremely disgusted and appalled that someone would basically attack one of our local wineries,” said EPIC president Stephen Mitchell, who’s also president of Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery.

Mitchell said Pelee Island Winery’s weekend losses amount to almost half of his operation’s total annual production.

“From an Ontario wine perspective, that’s a significant amount of wine,” he said.

Despite its size, Pelee Island Winery — which has the longest history among 16 existing area wineries — is not a competitor to the other “small, boutique, destination” operations such as his, said Mitchell. In fact, he added, the daddy of local wineries has always been willing to help out with its knowledge of the growing industry and with sharing equipment and expertise.

“I feel so awful for them,” said O’Brien, who believes the fallout will cause other wineries to re-evalute their own security. “My immediate reaction was, if it can happen to them, it can happen to us,” he said.

Insurance might cover the immediate economic damage, but O’Brien said such a loss means that quantity of wine is no longer available to the company’s customers and its markets.

Unlike brewers, we can only make wine once a year

“Unlike brewers, we can only make wine once a year,” he said.

After two years of grape harvests hit hard by unfavourable weather conditions, O’Brien described the local 2016 grape crop as having “amazing quality” with yields “up significantly.”

Tips to police can also be reported anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or catchcrooks.com.