UK drops EU wine production rules after Brexit

The UK government announced plans to scrap European Union regulations on wine production following Brexit, allowing makers to pick from a wider range of vines and create new blends.

Other measures include scrapping a requirement that certain sparkling wines must have foil caps and ‘mushroom stoppers,’ the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement. Producers will also be allowed to sell piquette, a beverage produced by fermenting the leftover skins, seeds, and stems of grapes.

The changes would offer a £180 million ($224 million) boost to Britain’s wine industry, the statement said, without giving details.  

“These reforms will put a rocket under our wine makers’ businesses,” Food and Drink Secretary Therese Coffey said. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association added in the statement that it welcomed the measures.

Britons are more accustomed to drinking wine than they are making it. UK firms produced about 9 million bottles of wine in 2021, according to a report from industry association Wines of Great Britain. Italy, the world’s biggest producer, makes more than 5 billion bottles per year, according to addiction advice website alcohol.org.