The duty rises mean that, as with pretty much anything else you can buy, prices are now steadily creeping up – the Wine and Spirits Trade Association estimated that about 43% of all wines would increase in price – with red wines, which tend to be higher in alcohol, the most affected, with the tax on a 14.5% bottle now up to £3.09.
While the system this replaced calculated wine duty by volume (with three different rates for still, sparkling and fortified wines), the new duty is calculated via a drink’s alcohol by volume.
Due to the complexity of the new system (yes, it all makes my brain hurt, too), a temporary easement period was introduced to help businesses get ready for the changes – for instance, wines between 11.5% and 14.5% were all taxed as if they were 12.5%.
In some cases, for instance, ABV cannot be accurately predicted due to increasingly unpredictable climatic influences from vintage to vintage, while many classified wines are subject to stylistic rules that mean their ABV cannot be lowered.
It also means that prices will rise everywhere, so while I’ll continue to seek out great value, these universal price increases mean we should be even more wary of wines that remain hyper-cheap.
