March Newsletter
March 27th 2010, by Gavin
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Rollover Darling
March 26th 2010, by Gavin
Captain Darling slipped another 10p on a bottle of wine in the Budget, taking the duty, and Vat on the duty, to £2. He also extended his ‘duty escalator’ of around 5% extra each year until 2015. On a £4.75 bottle of wine – higher than the average spend – over 50% is trousered by the government even now. By 2015, if Labour are returned to office this summer, duty will be over £2.50 per bottle as the escalator allows for duty rates to increase annually by 2% above inflation.
The Tipping Point
March 26th 2010, by Gavin
Duty on wine in the UK has gone up nearly 30% in three years (to £2 a bottle from this weekend), compared to 15% over the previous seven. Only Finland, Sweden, Eire and the UK have duty over 50p a bottle, and there’s no duty at all in Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Portugal and 10 ten other EU countries. France, with just 3p duty, is not far away – literally.
Will Middle England have to put up with being fleeced by the Government for wine at home for much longer? Watch this space…
Feel free to comment, as we’d like some help in shaping our cunning plan.
Bordeaux 2009: the circus
March 26th 2010, by Gavin
The world of fine wine descends on Bordeaux next week for the so called ‘en primeur’ tastings of this über-ripe, much-hyped vintage. Thousands of professionals, and many more hangers on, will be trying to evaluate the wines and stay looking sharp, despite having black teeth.
We’ve got a small team staying with us, and we’re starting in Pomerol on Monday 29th March, St-Emilion on Tuesday 30th, Pauillac, St-Julien, St-Estèphe and Margaux on Wednesday 1st April, Péssac-Léognan on Thursday 2nd, and then I’m going back solo to the Médoc to the First Growths and ‘Super-Seconds’ the week after Easter.
Judging by the harvest last September and October, my guess is that the most exciting spots will be Pomerol, Pauillac, St-Julien and St-Estèphe, although it should be impressive all round.