Spanish pink wine, 12.5% quantity. Credit score: Brett Jordan, Pexels
Spanish winemakers are warning of an export disaster after the UK’s new alcohol-based wine tax, launched in February 2025, triggered a pointy 7.5 per cent drop in Spanish wine exports to Britain – their largest nonetheless wine market.
In line with Reuters information, cited by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation, the worth of Spain’s wine exports to the UK fell to €111 million within the first 4 months of 2025, outpacing declines from each France (-6 per cent) and Italy (-6.7 per cent).
New UK tax targets high-percentage wines
The UK’s up to date tariff system taxes wine based mostly on alcohol power fairly than liquid quantity. Because of this, Spanish reds – identified for his or her greater alcohol content material attributable to hotter rising circumstances – at the moment are “most penalised by the tax enhance,” stated José Luis Benítez, director of the Spanish Wine Federation, cited by Majorca Each day Bulletin.
Benítez famous the system “favours beers… and a few glowing wines,” additional squeezing Spain’s export competitiveness in a post-Brexit market already hit by elevated paperwork and prices.
British importers should now pay extra for wines above 12.5 per cent alcohol – a class that features many traditional Spanish reds. These tax hikes are pushing retail costs greater and damaging long-standing commerce relationships.
Spanish wine exporters say they’re shedding floor in Britain due to the brand new pricing pressures. “It’s placing our costs a lot, a lot greater,” stated Nicola Thornton, founding father of the Spanish export firm Spanish Palate. “The tax is unquestionably a dialog that’s within the foreground. Everyone seems to be asking: what’s the alcohol stage?”
British patrons are reportedly paying round 20 per cent extra for a lot of full-bodied reds, which has triggered a transfer by some importers towards lighter wines (11.5–12 per cent ABV) – a shift that will not sit effectively with conventional shoppers.
US market steps in
Whereas UK gross sales have dropped, Spanish wine exports to the US rose 9 per cent in the identical interval to €119.6 million, pushed by sturdy importer demand and fears of doable future US tariffs. However specialists say this alone is probably not sufficient to offset the UK decline.
This shift in UK tax coverage may have international implications. As local weather change continues to boost grape sugar ranges – and subsequently alcohol content material – wine producers in hotter areas like Spain could face extra regulation-induced hurdles within the years forward.
Ought to a rustic’s local weather and custom be taxed into submission? Or ought to wine tariffs replicate extra than simply alcohol share?
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