There’s still no adequate explanation from the new or old board and management team at winemaker Evans and Tate about the company’s quick slide from apparent strength in May to the verge of collapse.

It was only in May that the company and then chairman Franklin Tate were confident about rising sales, good market prospects and cost controls with an ‘expenditure review’ underway.

A month later in June that review had grown in proportion as the company admitted it had problems with too much wine and some doubt about other asset values.

Mr Tate has lost his roles as CEO and executive chairman: he is now just a non-executive director (and a big shareholder whose value is underwater). The chief operating officer “has left the company.”

So it was no wonder that the company waited till the last minute to reveal the embarrassment that is the 2005 financial year results. For a company with a write-off half the size of annual sales, the result is worthy of inclusion in the Crikey $100 million club, such has been the speed of the implosion and erosion in value in the past four months.

Huge losses, and for a company that had $104 million of revenue from all sources, in 2005 to have lost $49.8 million after write-downs totalling $56.4 million is simply astounding.