Alcohol duty rise hike gives more to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt

Duty - the chunk that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt takes before VAT - soars on August 1. All wines above 11 per cent are targeted, with 44p extra on every bottle between 11.5 percent and 14.5 per cent alcohol, to a total of £2.67.

At 15 per cent - a sherry for example - the increase more than doubles, to 98p and a total of £3.21. That's not all. VAT swings in on that higher duty as well as on all the other cost elements, and the starkest illustration is that for every £8 bottle sold, £4 will go directly to the government.

Add in suppliers' margin, bottling, shipping and packaging, and the actual wine in the bottle is worth a mere 90p. Hardly good value drinking.

If you can face the full depressing detail, go to bauduc.com/news/a-guide-to-uk-duty-hikes-on-wine/. This is from the normally optimistic newsletter of Gavin Quinney, an ex-pat Englishman making excellent, very fairly priced wines at Château Bauduc in the Entre-deux-Mers area of Bordeaux.The impact of the August wine duty increases (Image: Gavin Quinney)

His rosé (£12.50 direct from the vineyard to UK addresses) is my go-to summer pink. And I'm grateful to Gavin for the use here of graphics which make the impact of the duty increases so clear.

Of course there has been much talk about how retailers and restauranteurs will cope. Some have breathed in deeply and said they will not put up prices to customers - The Wine Society is a prime example. CEO Steve Finlan explains that, as a mutual serving members rather than shareholders, the Society isn't looking for growth but to ensure sustainability.

"If we can hold prices, that gives our members a little more in their wallet," he told trade magazine Harpers. It isn't all bad news: duty on wine below 10.5 per cent alcohol falls from August 1, down 42p on the likes of a German off-dry riesling at 8.5 per cent. And sparkling wine no longer carries the previous premium, its duty per bottle the standard £2.67 rather than the former £2.86, encouraging for English sparkling wine producers.

The Wine Society will pass those reductions on to members, but what will others do? Many wholesalers and retailers can't absorb the increases, so inevitably consumers will pay. And this is only the beginning. Next February, much more complicated duty rates (changing with each 0.5 per cent increase in alcohol) are due, a major admin headache especially for small importers and retailers. Some of the UK's best sources of wine may drain away beneath the pressure.

August Wine Recommendations

After all that, it's time to raise a glass of something cheerful. I've much enjoyed Portuguese-style summer aperitifs in a can: Croft Pink & Tonic has definite port flavour and a touch of sweetness, Taylor's Chip Dry RTD is a drier pleasure, especially with a sprig of mint (both £2.50 for 25oml, amazon.co.uk, Chip Dry also ocado.com).Drinks in a can can be a pleasure (Image: Courtesy of the producer)

More seriously, white rioja may be small in production but it's big in appeal, with unusual grapes and bags of flavour, either fresh, citrussy and herbal as in Pica Zabal (£13 in mix-12, laithwaites.co.uk) and Ontañón (£13, corkofthenorth.co.uk), ultra-elegant in Ramón Bilbao Límite Norte (£19, greatwinesdirect.co.uk), or more traditionally oaky yet still crisp in Don Quintin Ortega (£20, Jeroboams).

Adur XO is one of the August wine recomendations (Image: Courtesy of the producer)

Picpoul de Pinet is a classic shellfish white from the slopes behind Languedoc's oyster lagoons, and leading co-operative Ormarine makes a range of subtly different styles. Both crunchy, long Etiquette Noir (£10, Sainsbury's) and slightly more rounded Villemarin (£8.50 mix-6, Majestic) have decent body alongside mineral-edged fruit. A superb, posher shellfish wine comes from the Basque country: Adur XO (£17 mix-12, laithwaites.co.uk) - this is one of Laithwaites' many very tempting fine wines from unusual grapes or unusual places.

Ontanon Rioja (Image: Courtesy of the producer)

I never thought I'd recommend a pinot grigio blush, but Cupiolo from the Dolomites (£10 Tesco) is serious, versatile and full of character. And remember how good lighter reds, cooled before pouring, are in summer. Try strawberry-soft Santa Tresa Rina Russa Frappato from Sicily (£11, Waitrose) or dark yet delicate 14/27 Agiorgitiko (£14 mix-12, laithwaites.co.uk).Vina Esmeralda is just £9 from Tesco (Image: Courtesy of the producer)

Finally, splendidly aromatic Viña Esmeralda Deep Sea edition (£9, Tesco) not only refreshes the palate but also helps clean the Mediterranean, in a project that removes 10 plastic bottles for every bottle of wine sold.