The CEO of Chapel Down Winery has attacked a decision by the European Commission to ban the UK wine producer from using the word ‘wine’ on labels for a product it has made using grapes from Argentina.

Frazer Thompson described the move to just-drinks earlier this month as being “bizarre”, and suggested that the rule raises broader issues about information presented on labels for consumers.

The Commission had told the winery that the wine should be labelled “fruit derived alcoholic beverage from produce sourced outside the EU.”

“This isn’t just us whingeing about EU regulations," said Thompson. "It’s about wine-labelling generally, which we think is wrong and a bar to innovation.”

Chapel Down Winery is based in Tenterden in Kent.