Tory Derbyshire County Council leader and vineyard owner calls on the Government to rethink its tax policies on alcohol duty

He said his vineyard business – Amber Valley Vineyards – has been “clobbered" by recent tax changes that now sees alcohol duty levied according to a drink's strength.

This means most wines and spirits will see rises on duty paid but lower-alcohol drinks and many sparkling wines will see less duty charged.

Special measures to support pubs have been put in place to ensure taxes on draught pints are unchanged.

But Cllr Lewis, whose vinyeard produces wines with 11% alcohol content, has been left scorched by the changes.

He accused the Government of misunderstanding the British wine industry after they introduced special dispensation for small producers of wine up to an alcohol content of 8.5% – Cllr Lewis said most wines produced in Britain start at 10%.

Cllr Lewis said the business had been “clobbered by significant tax rises” and warned customers he had little choice but to increase prices to cover the rising costs.

He added: "I'd ask the relevant ministers and officials to recognise that at is stands the duty regime that started on August 1, serves to benefit only the largest players in the English and Welsh wine industry by giving them a tax break, as they tend to produce the most sparkling wines.

"Whilst smaller producers tend towards still production and have seen their wines taxed more.

"This will stifle their ability to invest, expand and will disadvantage their local and loyal customer base. The many small vineyards around the UK and especially operations like ours, also serve a tourism demand that we’re now less able to invest in.

“I would suggest that the small producer dispensation needs to be extended to include wines of up to 12.5% and reviewed in the future.”

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “For the first time in over 140 years the UK’s alcohol duty system has started making sense as a drink’s tax now reflects the amount of alcohol in it, making everything easier to understand.

“This simplification cuts tax in three ways, firstly on draught drinks in the pub, including wine-based, secondly on lots of popular drinks in shops like, white wine, sparkling wines, liquors and ready-made drinks, and thirdly to help small craft producers innovate new lower strength products.”