Increases in wine tax 'against the spirit' of EU trade, group claims
The Support Your Local campaign said increases in the cost of a bottle of wine goes against the spirit of the European Project.
The group is calling on the Government to reduce excise duty on the beverage in the next budget.
It says a €1.50 increase since 2012 is having detrimental impact on farmers across the continent, while lowering the quality of wine being consumed here.
"€1.50 has been added in excise to a bottle of wine over three budgets," said Evelyn Jones of the National Off-Licence Association, adding that the group is campaigning for a 50c reduction - one-third of the recent increase.
"That would go a long way towards improving the basic quality of wine tin he bottle."
"The fact of the matter is that that Government is choking the quality out of an artisan product that's produced by farmers across Europe.
"It's seen as middle-class taxation- easy pickings - [but] would be contrary to the spirit of the EU treaty, as we don't make wine here ourselves."
There are a handful of wineries and vineyards in Ireland, but they are small in scale. The Lusca winery in Lusk, Co Dublin, produces only a few hundred bottles a year from vines next to their apple orchard.
