MEDINA, N.Y. — A Medina winery announced on Monday that it has decided to permanently close.
In a post made to the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery Facebook page, the owners wrote the following:
"Dear loyal supporters, industry partners, family and friends,
It has been an absolute pleasure to serve you our heart and soul in a bottle these past sixteen years. Sadly, the time has come to close Leonard Oakes Estate Winery. Please know that this decision has been excruciatingly difficult.
We absolutely adore the community we have built with you around sharing the (fermented) fruits of our labor here in Western New York. While we may be on uneasy emotional footing at this time, we would absolutely cherish the opportunity to embrace our community once again. We would love a chance to look back with pride and not sorrow. To share a glass, a memory, or an embrace. To cheers for change and the positive things it may bring. Most of the Oakes Winery crew will be around this weekend. Please stop in and share the love.
Thank you all for your kindness, support and dedication all of these years. ❤️
Our hours of operation this week will be limited as are our quantities of product available. If there is something you would like to treasure, now is the time."
The winery's hours heading into their final weekend are Friday 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday noon to 3 p.m.
In August the winery had initially shared with their customers that they were facing a transition in the family business. They said that the transition was to due a number of factors such as the US apple market, detrimental weather events, and a shift in consumer preferences.
See the full social media post attached below.