Supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and discounters Lidl are selling wines grown and pressed abroad under the guise of British produce, which English wine producers say is threatening the future of their vineyards.

The booming discount industry now turns over more than £240 million a year, undercutting English producers by importing grape must from cheap wine producing regions in countries including Spain, Romania and Bulgaria.

Transported in industrial size shipments containing up to 20,000 litres of low-grade concentrate, British wines are shipped to harbours on the south coast, such as Shoreham, Sussex, where it is then delivered to factory sized fermenting plants in London and other parts of the UK.

With some lines selling for as little as £2.49 per bottle, cheap brands – such as Silver Bay point, Three Mills and Baywood label – have soared in popularity in recent years.

Supermarkets found stocking British wines said they were clearly labelled “British”.

According to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), the Government would be free to change the designation in order to protect English producers, should Britain opt to leave the EU on 23 June.

However, Simon Stannard, WSTA’s European Affairs Director, said that even in the event of a Brexit, Britain would still need to seek exemptions in any future European free trade agreement in order to change the regulation.

“It depends on the conditions and terms of us leaving, if we are part of any future free trade agreements,” he said.

“Like other non-member states, if we continue to trade with the Common Market, you have to play by the rules.”

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