UK Wine Pricing Uncovered: Vinonomics

The more you pay, the better wine you get.

This might sound obvious enough, but considering the cost of packaging, logistics, VAT, total margins and excise duty, you get considerably more bang for your buck with premium products.

With the recent budget announcement, duty remains frozen across all alcohol, with duty on wine remaining at £2.23 per bottle. So, when buying a £5.50 bottle of wine in the UK, only 21p pays for the wine itself. This is considerably less than the £2.48-worth of wine you get with a £10 bottle or the £6.67 with a £20 bottle. Not only do you get better quality for your money when you spend more, but this value rises at a much faster rate with bottle price.

As part of the March 2023 budget update, the Government confirmed the reform on alcohol duty that will take effect from 1 August 2023. We will update our Vinonomics infographic accordingly in due time – but for now, you can read more about what this will entail here.

Total margin refers to retailer margin, agent margin and supplier margin.