Hampshire MEP says 'Cheers' to the prospect of a bumper wine harvest

12.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 12th Aug 2003

Chris Huhne MEP with Angela Channon, proprietor of the Wickham vineyard.

Chris Huhne MEP said 'cheers' this week to prospect of a bumper wine harvest in the county if the weather holds until the end of September. He is pictured with Angela Channon, proprietor of the Wickham vineyard.

'So far, the sun and the relative lack of rain has been good for the grape harvest, so Hampshire's wine growers are smiling in the hope of an excellent crop this autumn' said Mr Huhne.

Mrs Channon said: 'We are hopeful that we will have a very good harvest this year both in quality and quantity if the summer continues to be fine. We had a very good flowering of the vines in June, and that's a sign of having a lot of grapes.'

Mrs Channon briefed Mr Huhne on the requirements of the new labels introduced following EU directives, on added sulphites, on the bureaucratic procedures at the new Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the harvest.

Mr Huhne promised that he would take up with DEFRA the issue of the approval of sprays used on the vines, which Mrs Channon believes to be much more arduous in Britain than in other member states. 'This looks like Whitehall trying to goldplate Brussels directives with extra requirements. We should not make life more difficult for our growers'.

Mr Huhne, who used to pick grapes in France as a student vacation job, said he was really impressed both by how well kept the Wickham vines are, and by the modern vinification equipment in use at the vineyard. 'Frankly, this is much more advanced than many French vineyards'.

Another issue for British winegrowers is the high level of duty compared with the continent at £1.19 for a 75 centilitre bottle straight to the exchequer. 'This duty rate is increasingly being exposed by the amount of personal imports from across the channel' said Mr Huhne.

'I also think it is time that Britain's winegrowers were represented on the main advisory committee for wine in Brussels. We may be relatively small producers, but British wine growers have a lot to offer' said Mr Huhne.

Mr Huhne has campaigned for clearer labelling of wine so that wines with high levels of sulphites - used to preserve the wine - are clearly marked. 'High added sulphites stabilise the wine and reduce the risk of a bad bottle, but they can also give drinkers a worse hangover than they would have otherwise. And many drinkers have quite strong reactions to sulphites. They should be clearly labelled' said Mr Huhne.

Note to editors: The allowable range of sulphite content is from 16 to 40 parts per million.

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