Wine prices rising fastest among alcohols

Wine prices are increasing faster than any other alcoholic beverage, said a recent report citing latest ONS data.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show the price of wine has seen a 3.3 percent increase in the 12 months to January as compared to 0.8 percent rise in beer prices and just 0.2 percent rise in prices of spirits.

Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s (WSTA) chief executive Miles Beale named climate change as an important factor.

“Wine prices are directly affected by adverse weather events where they have an impact on grape yields. For example, drought or wildfires can wipe out entire vineyards, which can reduce the amount of wine produced, which bumps up wine prices,” Beale told Yahoo News UK.

“On a smaller scale, frosts can damage vines, reducing the number of grapes that can be produced in that year’s yield.”

Beale added that pandemic and Brexit are also to be blamed along with post-Brexit HGV driver crisis.

“Wine shipments have been delayed and there has been added confusion at ports over what paperwork is needed, also slowing things down, at least temporarily.

“So there have been a series of things affecting the supply chain, squeezing the supply of wine to the UK – and driving up prices,” he said.

The report comes as the households continue to grapple with thirty-year-high inflation of 5.5 percent. The situation is set to get worse, with the Bank of England warning that inflation will rocket to 7.25 percent in April.