The winery's owner, Jerry Schooler (74), who has been making wines, liqueurs and mead for nearly a quarter of a century and produces 400,000 bottles a year, faces prosecution if he does not comply with a new directive.

The EU says it is illegal to sell his nine liqueurs – including bramble, redcurrant, walnut, ginger, sloe and strawberry – in his traditional 37.5cl bottles. It must be 35cl instead.

Doubts have also been raised about his mead – he makes seven different kinds from the Lurgashall winery – because officials are not sure whether to classify it as a wine or a spirit.

Like the rest of his wines, whose flavours include apple, elderberry, elderflower, plum, rose petal, rhubarb and a mulled blend called Old Tom's Tipple, Mr Schooler currently uses 75cl containers.

"It's all a nonsense, absolutely ridiculous," he said. "We have been using 75cl and 37.5cl bottles since we started 24 years ago.

"A trading standards officer would come by once a year to discuss any problems, but there have been no difficulties.

"This year he said the bottles would have to change from 75cl to 70 and from 37.5cl to 35 because of a new directive.

"We are now going to have to change all our bottling, the labels and maybe the corks as well and it's going to cost me £30,000 to do it.

"I'm trying to get a grant to pay for all these changes because we have 28 products and 600 labels.

"This has just been imposed on us and all we can do is go along with it.

"We fly the Union Jack and the Cross of St George outside the winery and we are very pleased to do it – but sometimes life is made very difficult. I don't think I shall be flying the EU flag."

Mr Schooler, originally from New England, employs nine full-time and three part-time staff at the winery, which occupies a 17th-century barn.

Sixty vats hold the various brews – including the silver birch wine, whose sap is collected from nearby woodland.

The mead is made from honey imported from Mexico because of a lack of quality supply in Britain.

The spread of oil seed rape crops is blamed for British bees' poor performance, although the winery is currently in talks to supply Balmoral mead from the Queen's bees in Scotland.

Mr Schooler said: "We are revitalising a lost industry in the UK. We are bottling history here and I think patriotism and history are very important in the English environment. It's just a pity the EU doesn't agree."

The winery is trying to be positive about its setback and says it now plans to sell its products in 50cl bottles which will contain 'just enough alcohol for the recommended daily intake'.

West Sussex County Council's trading standards department said the winery was bound by EU Directive 2007/45/EC which was drawn up in September last year to 'lay down rules on nominal quantities for pre-packed products'.

It said the directive meant the use of 37.5cl bottles for liqueurs was illegal.

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