Another budget looms – Wednesday 21^st March, giving our Chancellor yet another opportunity to raise the excise duty on wines even further.  Whilst we must sympathise with the Chancellor’s plight to raise taxes are you, the final consumer, aware of the current tax implications?  On a standard bottle of wine the excise duty is currently £1.81 per bottle and £2.32 for sparkling wine.  Do not forget the addition of the VAT ~ a tax on a tax!  All in all, if you buy a bottle of wine at £5, 53% is actually tax.  Another thing … call me a cynic but it is not very apparent that as we build up for the imminent budget, the Government are all too keen to enlighten us to the perils of alcohol abuse – could this actually be their way of justifying the inevitable pending duty increase?

All this predictable annual gloom can be checked by what is actually inside the bottle.  Never before has wine quality been so dependably good; new wines, new vintages and meticulous attention to detail by dynamic innovative winemakers, make the current times very exciting and rewarding for the wine buffs.

It is the unique attributes of ‘The Vintage’ that makes the release of a new vintage such an eagerly awaited occasion.  Yes, one can control the husbandry in the vineyard ~ the grape choice, soil management, the nurturing of the vines … yes, the skills and interpretations of the winemaker will maximise the quality of the finished wine, but it is the part played by Mother Nature, that being the weather, that really holds the trump card and, indeed, the weather’s influence will also be fundamental in controlling the final selling price.

Of late we have been blessed with a plethora of great vintages; vintages which allow us to enjoy wines in their relative youth yet displaying true grape varietal expression.  Take the 2011 Beaujolais, some say the best ever, ripe, juicy, fruit laden and oozing vibrance.  Statistically it is worth noting the wines of Europe are on a roll …. lighter alcohol, more purity, elegance and compatibility with modern style foods.  Pinot Grigio is still dominant with wines in general under 12% alcohol and seen to be on most people’s shopping list, hence the restrained wines of Europe are very much in demand.  In contrast, I can confirm a very tangible slide in popularity in the big wines of Australia and the New World. 

So much to consider, yet remember wine is for pleasure so enjoy it as you like it.  A final thought … with every bottle you drink, you are actually helping the country’s economy!

Blog...blogging ? Welcome to my first Blog, I am just so relieved to find blogging has nothing to do with sleezy anorack clad loosers gorping into car windows down unlit country lanes...is that something different ?
'Hail the arrival of the New Vintages. At this time of the year we eagerly and slightly anxiously await the unveiling of the latest vintages. The choice of grapes, the soil, the location, viticulture and vinification are all to some extent controllable .. yet the one crucial aspect of wine production of which there is no control is that of the weather, the final part of the jigsaw. so critical to the quality and indeed the selling price of the wine.

Whether from the Northern or Southern hemisphere we have of late been blessed with exceptional conditions, this ensuring wines of perfect balance, concentration and true varital expression.
Be your choice of wine a modest southern French Vin de Pays or a Classic White Burgundy of pedigree one can buy with ensured degree of certainty that you will not be disappointed.

The End of my first Blog.  Happy drinking.

Portugal fights back!

Having just made a flying visit to the original flying wine maker I am very impressed with the direction wines of Portugal are going in. Peter Bright, an Australian, has been making wine in Portugal for over thirty years and has been instrumental in bringing Portuguese wines to the fore. He uses some classic port varietals and also a few more traditional grapes to produce his intriguing portfolio of wines.

**Watch the Portuguese page of the store as we will be adding some of his wines to the website so that you may enjoy the fruits of his labour.