Things have heated up between Ascentia Wine Estates and former partner WJ Deutsch & Sons. Originally it seemed the companies were merely in a disagreement. But then last week Deutsch filed a lawsuit in Delaware that claims Ascentia "is insolvent, and its imbalance of assets and liabilities is worsening," the Santa Rosa Press Democrat first reported. The lawsuit also claims Bill Deutsch was not allowed to speak openly with creditors about the financial health of the company. In a statement to WSD, Jim DeBonis, ceo of Ascentia Wine Estates said: "W.J. Deutsch & Sons, our former sales and marketing agent, has filed a phony lawsuit and then used it as the pretext for launching a publicity campaign against Ascentia Wine Estates....