The German historian Johann Wilhelm von Archenholz wrote about British tastes in alcohol in the eighteenth century: ‘In London they liked everything that is powerful and heady.’ Not much has changed since then. Blame it on the weather, blame it on the food or blame it on the good times, the British have always liked their drink strong.
But for how much longer will we be able to cheerfully knock back the Malbec when a new duty system is implemented in February? Wines between 11.5 per cent and 14.5 per cent ABV will have their own bands per 0.1 increment of alcohol. Which means the tax on your favourite 14.5 per cent Argie Malbec will go up from £2.67 to £3.10. Before last year’s budget it would have been £2.23. Plus there’s VAT on top of that. Yes, you have to pay tax on your tax.
The strange thing about all this extra regulation is that it doesn’t seem to have any point
John Colley, CEO of Majestic, has warned this week: ‘There is a risk that producers will stop exporting wine to the UK entirely, due to the immense administrative burden’.
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