Polish President serves a EUR 12 wine to the Belgian royal couple

[Brazen]

I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:

The wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.

However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.

The latter costs £30 a bottle.

[Duque de Bragança]

I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:

The wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.

However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.

The latter costs £30 a bottle.

£30 for a British sparkling wine?! Is it crazy British taxes on alcohol or what? For that price finding a good crémant or even some champagne should be doable , not 12 € though.

[garbon]

Well quite. Lidl wine is always beating far more expensive brands in blind taste test.

Well quite. Lidl wine is always beating far more expensive brands in blind taste test.

Lidl is one of the few stores that I feel the worse for entering.

[Gups]

I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:

The wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.

However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.

The latter costs £30 a bottle.

£30 for a British sparkling wine?! Is it crazy British taxes on alcohol or what? For that price finding a good crémant or even some champagne should be doable , not 12 € though.

British taxes on alcohol are applied equally to champagne, prosecco and cava as they are to English sparklers. It's a flat rate per bottle.

The reason that they are as expensive as champagne is that they are just as good at that price point, if not better. I don't think there's an English sparkling wine that can challenge Krug or Cristal but at the £20-£30 level,  I'd pick Chapel Down, Camel or Ridgeview over bland Moet, Lanson or Hendrick any day.

[Martinus]

I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:

The wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.

However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.

The latter costs £30 a bottle.

[Eddie Teach]

British taxes on alcohol are applied equally to champagne, prosecco and cava as they are to English sparklers. It's a flat rate per bottle.

So a 20 pound bottle gets taxed the same as a 100 pound bottle? 

[Richard Hakluyt]

There is duty payable, about £2 per bottle according to strength, and VAT at 20% is also levied.

[The Minsky Moment]

I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:

The wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.

However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.

The latter costs £30 a bottle.

It makes sense to choose a domestic champion, even on the pricey side, for a significant public occasion. 
Warre's 77 seems a bit on the extravagant side.

[The Minsky Moment]

So what do you pay for wine?

Typically 10-25 US but I lay a few down at the 30-60 range (Brunello, vintage port, 1er Chablis and the like).  Can't bring myself to go much higher.

[crazy canuck]

America doesn't have an upper class.  We all are middle class.  That way everyone gets their taxes cut.

I lost that argument in this country. 

[crazy canuck]

So what do you pay for wine? For home drinking I go for "whatever French or Australian red is on offer at around £7". In a restaurant I fall into the "second cheapest" trap, which is apparently where they price their bin ends and bad purchases.

I have a pretty broad range.  You can pick up some nice wines in the 15-20 dollar range that you wouldn't worry about serving to guests.  But I like to have a few cases in the 40-80 range for evenings that I want to spoil myself or when guests who particularly enjoy wine drop by.  I recently opened a nice $75 bottle for a certain Danish fellow and he seemed to like it. 

[Gups]

My last order with the Wine Society. Mix of £5-8 bottles for mid-week and some nice Bordeaux and Rioja for special occasions or when I don't have to share. I also buy about 4 cases a year of Rhone and Bordeaux en primeur for cellaring at the £20-50 a bottle price point.


VCP Rising Stars for Drinking Now Case £79.00 1 Case of 6 £79.00
LC15414 VCP Claret A Case £129.00 1 Case of 6 £129.00
IT20451 The Society's Barbera d'Asti Superiore 2013 £6.00 6 Bottle £36.00
FC26221 Pinot Noir Vin de France Jacques Depagneux 2011 £5.75 6 Bottle £34.50
IT18991 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vigna Corvino 2013 £6.95 6 Bottle £41.70
SP10421 The Society's Southern Spanish Red Jumilla 2014 £5.25 6 Bottle £31.50
NZ7801 Te Pa Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 £59.50 1 Case of 6 £59.50
CB4071 Ch de Pitray Cabernet Franc 2011 Castillon £11.95 3 Bottle £35.85
SP9721 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva Rioja 2005 £19.50 3 Bottle £58.50
PW4321 The Societys Exhibition Douro 2011 £13.50 2 Bottle £27.00
FC27121 Pinot Noir Puy de Dome, Cave Saint-Verny 2013 £7.25 3 Bottle £21.75
SG2031 The Society's Exhibition English Sparkling Wine 2013 £20.00 3 Bottle £60.00
SG321 Cremant d'Alsace Cuvee Julien, Dopff au Moulin £11.50 3 Bottle £34.50