The problem with writing a column in advance is that it’s hard to gauge what will be happening two to three weeks down the line. Normally, it’s more of a weather thing – hoping, if you’re writing about rosé, for instance, that it won’t be chucking it down on the day of publication. But Brexit ... I mean, where do I start? You don’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next.
The (relatively) good news is that there are unlikely to be shortages in the run-up to Christmas. Retailers have stockpiled. “We always do that, anyway” says Ewan Murray of the Wine Society, “but this year, we brought in our wines earlier than we would normally have done, so we have Christmas stocks and then some.”
Many of the drinks we enjoy will be unaffected by Brexit. It shouldn’t affect wine from outside the EU any more than it already has done, given the fall in the pound. If you’re a malbec lover, that should make you happy. Tesco has a rather appealing new one in its Finest range that you might want to get in for Halloween – a juicy Western Cape Malbec (13% £7.50), unusually from South Africa rather than Argentina.
Beyond that, the picture is rather more gloomy, with tariffs on wine projected to increase the price by 10p a bottle, while import documentation could cost the industry £70m, according to Miles Beale, CEO of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association.
Of course, we have a vast number of homegrown drinks, so there’s no need to buy from abroad if you don’t want to, though Brexit actually makes me more inclined, if anything, to support our European friends and neighbours. We have – and always have had – beer, cider, gin and whisky, to which these days you can also add a huge range of wines. However, fizz apart – and that does make up the majority of English production – our wines can’t compete in price terms with their European equivalents. As I wrote a few months ago, new ones are popping up all the time. I particularly like the Oxney range, including the very pretty rosé in today’s picks.
So panic not. Well, not yet, anyway. We may be going to hell in a handcart, and UK-based producers will be affected in the longer term, but we can still drink reasonably well. However, if you like a particular wine, it makes sense to buy it now rather than later, even if you don’t normally get your head round to thinking about Christmas in October. Me neither.
Four home-grown bevvies to get you through Brexit (or not, as the case may be)
£12 for six 330ml bottles, bedlambrewery.co.uk, 5%.
Fabulously rich, chocolatey porter from Sussex-based Bedlam brewery. Drink with a beef stew.
Apple County Cider Co Dabinett medium cider
500ml £44 for 12 500ml bottles, bottles from applecountycider.co.uk, 6.5%.
Crisp, refreshing, dry Welsh cider from Monmouthshire that’s drier than ‘medium’ sounds.
£17.95 Vintage Roots, 12.5%.
2018 was such a great year for still English wine: you should take advantage of this deliciously fruity rosé to evoke memories of summer.
Hyke gin
£24 for 50cl, Tesco or £32 for 70cl from the distiller Foxhole Spirits, 40%.
Attractive new gin made from surplus table grapes. Citrussy, floral and gently spicy.
