N.S. news: Premier willing to talk with wineries [Video]

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said Thursday he’s willing to meet with the province’s wine industry to try to resolve an impasse over the financial help his government has offered grape growers.

Tim Houston made the comments following a cabinet meeting, after grape growers last week rejected the government’s offer of an extra $1.6 million in support.

The additional money would have brought the total government funding for farm wineries to $6.6 million per year. The proposal, however, also offered payments capped at $1 million per year to each of the province’s two commercial wine bottlers.

The wineries walked away from the offer calling it unfair because it included a subsidy to commercial bottlers, who import cheap grape juice to make wine that is less expensive than locally produced wines. They also demanded a face-to-face meeting with the premier.

Houston said Nova Scotia’s wine industry is important and has “lots …