A "Pint Sized" change to bottled wine sales in the UK

The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) (Amendment) Regulations 2024

The Government has released a new statutory instrument (SI) relating to the sale of new quantities of bottled still wine and bottled sparkling wine which they say should simplify the sale of wine in the UK.

The existing legislative framework allows still wine to be sold in 187ml and not 200 ml quantities whereas sparking wine could be sold in 200 ml, but not 187 ml. The current legislation sets limits on how alcohol can be sold when prepacked (in a bottle or can, for example) and non-prepacked (typically sold by the glass). It is a criminal offence to sell alcohols in sizes which are not listed in the legislation as “specified sizes”.

The amendments made by the SI introduce new quantities for bottled still wine (200 ml and 568 ml) and for bottled sparkling wine (500 ml and 568 ml) which will mean that businesses and consumers can sell and purchase pint sized bottles (i.e. 568 ml) of both.

The regulations will come into force on 19 September 2024 and will extend to England, Wales and Scotland. Licensees and managers of pubs, nightclubs, restaurants and other licensed premises will need to prepare and update their prices accordingly if they are stocking the new sized bottles. Similarly, wine merchants in the UK will need to gauge consumer demand for the new pint sized bottles.

The Government have said that the intention behind the SI is to allow still wine and prepacked sparkling wine to be sold in a greater range of sizes and foster innovation in the wine industry. The apparent rationale behind this decision is that the current legislation is too rigid and forces importers and merchants to sell alcoholic drinks in fixed sizes.

The SI is being heralded by some government sources as one of the advantages of Brexit as the UK can remove the “Brussels red tape” which has restricted the sale of wine and harkens back to the days in which Winston Churchill would enjoy a pint of Champagne. The Government had previously indicated that they were considering bringing back imperial measurements, however the amendments made by the SI appears to be as far as the government are willing to go. This is perhaps due to the response to a government consultation in which 98.7% of respondents stated that they were in favour of using metric units when buying or selling products.

The implications of the SI remain to be seen – it is still not clear whether there is significant consumer demand for pint sized bottles. Most importantly for English winemakers, the question they must ask themselves is do they want to make a considerable investment to change their bottling processes so that they can produce and sell pint sized bottles of wine.