“As with Champagne leveraging its French sophistication, the key brand for any wine is its country of origin and Mintel’s research shows that Italy, France, South Africa and Australia are all well positioned to exploit the perceived superior identity of their wines

– Jonny Forsyth, Senior Drinks Analyst

In this report we answer the key questions:

Will price rises trigger an inevitable decline in wine purchases over the next few years?

Is wine branding ready to come of age?

Is the UK ready to move beyond a heavy off-trade discounting model?

Is it possible for wine to innovate in order to drive sales?

Definitions:

· This report is restricted to still wines produced from the naturally fermented juice of fresh grapes (including UK-grown grapes), not exceeding 15% ABV. These are frequently referred to as ‘light’ or ‘table’ wines, although the latter term may also be applied to a certain quality of European wine.

· Semi-sparkling wine, defined as having a pressure of less than three bars, is included with still wines in HM Customs and Excise data, and is covered by this report.

· Some products with less than 5.5% ABV are also classified as wine. The term ‘non-alcoholic’ may only be applied to drinks that have never contained any alcohol at any stage of production. Drinks with less than 0.05% ABV are referred to as ‘no alcohol’ or ‘alcohol-free’, and those with between 0.05% and 0.5% ABV as ‘de-alcoholised’.