Owner of Fairy Trees Winery in Co Louth says ‘maybe we made a mistake’ over labelling of blend with 25% French grapesFairy Trees Winery owner Bertrand Lacile, who is originally from France, says "maybe we made a mistake" over labelling of blend with 25% French grapes. Sat Aug 08 2026 - 06:00 • 4 MIN READOne of the largest wine distributors in the country has stopped supplying wine from a Louth-based vineyard over concerns about the accuracy of it being labelled as an “Irish” wine.Neil Cassidy, managing director of Cassidy Wines, told The Irish Times it dropped Fairy Trees wines after a campaign that questioned the bona fides of those selling the wine as Irish.A number of small Irish wine producers have challenged individual off-licences and chains, as well as Cassidy Wines, for stocking Fairy Trees red and white wines, which are labelled as “produced in Ireland”. Suspicions were raised because of the volume of bottles available, and its cheap price made other growers believe a significant proportion of the wine was French.Based on eight hectares across two sites near Dunleer in Co Louth, Fairy Trees Winery is owned by Bertrand Lacile, who is originally from France and who is also involved in running a distillery business in Co Louth. Lacile told The Irish Times this week that 25 per cent of his blended wines are from French grapes, with 75 per cent Irish. He bought the site in 2020 and said he began growing vines in 2021.A number of off-licences sell Bán and Dearg, the names of Fairy Trees’ white and red wines, and describe them as “Irish wines” on their websites, including the Dublin Airport duty free site.Wines made by Fairy Trees Winery in Co Louth. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times