A falling pound, rising inflation – time to stock up on wines from Chile and South Africa
There are at least two things that everyone can agree with on Brexit. First: nobody has any idea what’s going to happen next. Second: we can all share in the miserable certainty that, for the rest of our lives and quite possibly our children’s and grandchildren’s, Brexit will be the excuse or the explanation for most things that happen in the UK. Since 23 June, any crumb of positive economic data has been dredged up by Brexiteers to illustrate the falsehood of Project Doom, while every penny lost in the value of the pound is a little bit more proof for Remainers of the folly of leaving. The wine business has been as guilty of indulging in this pre-emptive blame game as anybody else.
Given this is a trade populated by Europhile food and drink lovers it will come as no surprise to learn which side they’re on. A tweet from Cardiff-based wine merchant Daniel Williams in February speaks for many: “The dust has settled, for those that voted for #brexit & #Trump I have just seen the real life effect on #wine pricing in spreadsheet form!” In other words, Brexit is to blame for a sharp upturn in prices that is only just being felt by suppliers, which is coming to a wine merchant near you very soon. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, the trade body that represents the interests of the industry in the UK, has spelled this out in detail, putting a round figure on the cost of the Brexit vote on wine prices so far: 29p for a bottle from within the EU, and 22p for a bottle from outside. While not all retailers will pass the costs onto consumers – suppliers and producers will be expected to take at least some of the hit for as long as possible – the body’s chief executive Miles Beale said that Brexit was already damaging a trade worth £17.3 billion a year.
Related: Wine lovers face triple whammy Brexit price rise, says UK trade body
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