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Did you know that the French pay just 2p of tax on every bottle of wine, and the Italians pay nothing at all? By contrast, Britons pay £2.05 on every bottle and, shockingly, we pay around two thirds of the alcohol duty levied across the entire continent.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WTSA) is leading the calls for Chancellor George Osborne to reduce the amount of duty placed on wine and spirits.
The UK wine industry is being unfairly singled out in the duty rise, say experts
Posted on Mon 21st Mar 2016 at 11:49
The announcement by Chancellor George Osborne, on March 16, that wine would see a duty rise at the same level as inflation, came as a huge disappointment to those in the industry.
It's a system that's relied on by millions of consumers, but now a leading retailer has said we need to stop merchandising wine by country of origin.Speaking to the Drinks Business, Andrew Bewes, managing director of Hallgarten Druitt, said that:“We are seeing seismic change [in the on-trade] from the situation twenty years ago and this is not having to list wine region by region and grape by grape but moving towards stylistic indicators. That may mean a reduction in choice at a grocery level – as wine lists in res
Macedonia listed as one of Top 5 International Wine Destinations
Posted on Sun 28th Feb 2016 at 10:48
We are delighted to see specialist Food and Wine website recognise Macedonia and as one of its top 5 international wine destinations!About the region the site says “Forget Burgundy and Napa. The tiny Balkan Republic of just two million people that has been making world class wine since the days of Julius Caesar, but has received recognition from connoisseurs for only a couple”.Macedonia is famous for its culture and historical heritage and is linked to Alexander the Great and the birth place of Mother Teresa. Since the very early Romans times when its emperors favoured its grapes Mace
Popular UK supermarket Sainsbury's has just released a new report entitled Rosé Uncorked, which suggests that people are now buying more rosé wine because of the celebrity connection.This trend is largely seen in younger people, perhaps because they are most likely to be influenced by celebrity culture.
Will the Removal of ‘Deep Discounting’ Help put the Value Back in Wine?
Posted on Mon 22nd Feb 2016 at 12:22
The supermarkets have a lot to answer for. With their constantly ‘slashed’ wine prices that encouraged consumers to look only for the price, and not what was in the bottle, they single-handedly devalued the wine market and caused a lasting scar across the industry.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has conducted a survey that reveals 90% of their members back Britain’s continued EU membership.
According to Harpers, Conviviality Retail, the parent company of Wine Rack amongst others, has posted a rise in revenue of 2.4% in the year to April 26. This equates to a 4.4% increase in pre-tax profits, something perhaps due in part to the fact that wine sales are up 10%. Their number of shops also increased by 29, giving them a new total of 624. This represents stable growth for the company, as their review of unviable franchises is now at an end.As CEO Diana Hunter stated, “This is a strong set of results refle
Nowadays, it’s fair to say that customers are spoiled for choice when it comes to wine, even when they want just a glass rather than the whole bottle.