Wine has recently become the UK’s favourite drink, outselling beer and spirits. More and more of us are choosing a glass of wine for our evening drink and with the popularity of Prosecco as a celebration firm favourite, wine is on a winning streak.
How much wine is Britain drinking?
At the last count Britain’s were drinking on average 108 bottles of wine each per year. This is based on the population of adults and the amount sold. There are approximately 30 million, give or take, wine drinkers in the UK. According to Statista in 2020, 13.7 million hectoliters of wine were released for consumption by HM Revenue and Customs. For the past fifteen years the volume cleared for consumption has always been over 12.5 million hectoliters.
Wine has outsold Beer and Spirits quite substantially, in a recent YouGov poll, 28% of respondents voted for wine as their favourite alcoholic drink. With Beer taking 23% and Spirits only 20% of the vote.
Sparkling wines, such as party favourite Prosecco, have surged in popularity over the past decade and this has contributed massively to wines ever-growing popularity with us Brits. You have got to love the Italian’s for providing us with yet another delicacy from their boot-shaped shores!
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How much should you spend on a bottle of wine?
When it comes to wine, there is such a vast price spectrum to navigate. The price depends on where you shop but the average price comes out at £6.00. Supermarkets tend to be where most of us purchase wine and you can expect to pay between £5-6 at LIDL versus £7-9 at Waitrose or M&S.
Individuals need to weigh up the occasion when making a purchase. If it is a casual night in with friends, sure hit LIDL and grab a couple of bottles for under £15. If, you are attending a dinner party or celebrating a special occasion then up the budget and splash out on a more expensive bottle. Bear in mind that more expensive bottles are not always nicer, so it is good to shop around and experiment.
What is the best-selling wine in the UK?
At Majestic Wine, one of the UK’s largest wine retailers, White wine is the best-selling bottle. Specifically, Sauvignon Blanc with Pinot Grigio coming a close second. In the red department, it is Malbec and Shiraz that make top sales. All very dependable wines that everyone knows and will always enjoy.
Majestic Wine did a nationwide in-store blind tasting, they lined up eight bottles of red and white wine and invited customers to sample and give their honest opinions. The winner was a great surprise to the staff at Majestic, with a landslide win of 78%, Sicilian red Nero d’Avola was the victor! The white wine winner was a Sauvignon Blanc, which is Majestic’s bestselling wine overall so no surprises there.
Prosecco outsells English Sparkling wine by 20% which is a shame as there are lots of good quality Sparkling Wines made in England on the market. Next time you are grabbing a bottle of fizz try out the Balfour 1503 Rose. A pink sparkling wine priced at around £15, with a glitzy bottle that looks fit for any party night, it is described as fresh with a taste of red cherry fruit- delicious!
Prosecco vs Champagne
Champagne and Prosecco are both sparkling white wines. Their differences lie in the where and way they are produced. Champagne is only produced in the Champagne region of France whereas Prosecco is made in the Veneto region of Northern Italy.
Prosecco is substantially cheaper than Champagne and that is due to the length of time and methods used they employ to produce each bottle. Champagne is much more labour intensive and takes longer to make. Each bottle of Champagne is left to ferment in its bottle whereas Prosecco ferments in a large tank and is bottled later, it is this difference that is said to make the bubbles in Champagne so light, crisp, and delicate.
The grapes that are used also differ. Prosecco is made with the Glera grape variety and Champagne uses a mixture of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
Fun fact, the first bottles of Champagne were produced by Dom Perignon in 1693! Prosecco was not made until 175 years later in 1868 by Carpene Mavolti. A bottle of “Dom†will set you back a couple of hundred pounds. In stark contrast to a bottle of Carpene Malvolti which sells at around £25!
Champagne is the ultimate in luxury when it comes to sparkling wine and certainly has the price tag to match. Prosecco is just as enjoyable and much more accessible budget-wise. If you are having a very special event or celebration, there is nothing better than a crisp glass of Champagne to indulge your tastebuds and treat your guests. If it is less formal Prosecco is very appropriate and these days no one will turn up their nose at a glass of fizz, regardless of its origin.
World’s most expensive wine.
Screaming Eagle Cabernet is widely regarded as the world’s most expensive wine, excluding bottles sold at auction. I found a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet 2013 selling for an eye-watering £5,500.00! Which is cheap when compared to the 1993 imperial bottle that sold for $500,000 in a wine auction. The price is so steep as they keep the production low and demand high, there is an actual waiting list for this exclusive wine.
Wine accessories
If you're going to invest in good wine, it's worth thinking about some useful accessories to help store, display and serve your favourite wines to your guests, family and friends. Have a look at some of the excellent wine accessories we've found. Some of these make excellent gifts too for the special person in your life who loves a glass of wine.
If you are a regular wine drinker it may be worth joining a wine club such as Virgin Wines, Naked Wines, Wine Society and others, or even just buy your wine in cases. There are lots of really good value offers on the market. Some give excellent gifts such as wine glasses or dinner sets. You can purchase wine at a sizeable discount as well as try out new varieties.
It is also a good idea to have a little supply of nice wines at the ready for gifts and dinner guests or invitations. When bought this way you can save money, and it is very convenient, You can experiment with new wines, have them delivered to your home and most companies provide booklets that help with advice on what wine to match with foods, so you can build your knowledge as well.
There are lots of different packages out there to try, some are one-off buys and others are monthly subscriptions. It pays to shop around and find what works best for you and your own personal taste and consumption. For me, I like the one-off purchases, especially if there’s a free gift included. That way I can buy a supply of good quality wine and have a bottle at hand should the need arise.
Christmas or other seasonal holidays is a great time to try one of these offers out as you will have a steady supply of people to help you drink it and it makes a great gift for a friendly neighbour or similar. Anything you don’t drink at Christmas can be stored away for a future dinner party, birthday, or holiday.
Top 10 best Selling Brands of Wine in UK
These are the best-selling wine brands in the UK, all very delicious and solid choices, something for all tastes. So the most sold wine in the UK is as follows.
Hardy’s
Blossom Hill
Echo Falls
Gallo
Isla Negra
McGuigan
Jacob’s Creek
Kumala
Casillero del Diablo
Lindemans
Ten of the best wine quotes to share with your guests
Life is too short to drink bad wine.
Love like wine is better with time.
Wine and friends are a great blend.
Wine brings to light the hidden secrets of the soul.
Wine is a lifestyle.
Wine is a social lubricant.
Wine is bottled poetry.
Wine is sunlight held together by water.
Wine is the milk of old people.
Wine is, perhaps, the closest thing the planet has to an elixir of life.
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