Dear Members,

As you obviously know, I like a glass of wine or two, and look
after the wine list here at The Club. Having written several
articles about a wide range of topics relating to wine, I thought
it might be interesting to write a bit about the British Wine
Industry in general and especially what happened in 2024.

2024 was not the easiest year for producers at all here in Britain
but also throughout Europe. Our good old friend the weather
decided to make things testing, to say the least. We have had
frost, heavy rain, storms and periods of drought which all
combined resulted in a significant drop in production.To give
you an idea in Britain over a 10-year average the production
is about 10 million bottles per year, for 2024 the production
is estimated between 6 to 7 million bottles which is quite a
drop. In other countries it is a similar story, the world’s biggest
producer Italy saw a 13% drop on a 5-year average, and France
had a 23% decline which is the lowest in years.

Luckily not all is lost as 2023 was a record year in terms of
production in Britain (21.6M bottles) which helped reduce the
shortfall and the knowledge and skills in the British vineyards,
made sure the small harvest was at least of good quality. If you
compare where the industry was 10/15 years ago and where it
is now, the change has been remarkable. The industry has gone
from strength to strength and now has the resilience and knowhow
to deal with challenging years like 2024.

Now with all this reduced production, I can hear you think
about what this will do in terms of the price I pay for a bottle
of wine, my honest answer, I am not sure. Yes, 2023 was a
record year but 2024 definitely doesn’t help as the production
drop is significant. Considering the rising costs (when is it going
to stop!!) and the “new” Alcohol Duty that comes into full
effect on the 1st February (In a nutshell: the higher the alcohol
percentage the higher the duty will be). I do suspect a rise in
pricing, but I am far from an expert so we will have to wait and
see, I guess. Fingers Crossed!!

If you are interested in reading more about the British Wine
Industry, the source I used was the website from WineGB,
which is an excellent organisation representing the British Wine
Industry.

Cheers!

Jelle