‘Never buying again’ slam shoppers as popular wine brands quietly slash alcohol strength

WINE fans are only just realising that top brands Hardys and Blossom Hill have been lowered in strength – leaving them fuming over their weaker plonk. 

The change comes after the previous Government upped taxes on stronger booze, meaning wine, beer and spirits are now sold with less alcohol in them.

A 75cl bottle of Blossom Hill White Zinfandel was 11 per cent ABV two years ago, and cost £5.25 with a Tesco Clubcard.

But now it’s £5.75 and its strength has gone down to 8.5%.

One customer review said: “I wouldn’t mind if they still offered the original formula for more money but they have taken our choice away, not told us and are now trying to pass off a watered down version of the wine we loved.”

Another described it as a “glorified Shloer”, adding it was “pale in colour and overpriced.”

Shloer is an alcohol-free fizzy grape drink.

Meanwhile the brand’s red wine has been reduced from 12.5 to 10.5%, and has also been criticised for being now made in Spain rather than California.

One reviewer wrote of the red: “Not even worth half a star. Was Californian 12.5 abv …now Spanish 10.5 abv ..but oops is also 75p a bottle dearer. 

“Forget it Tesco tastes nasty, watery and not an ounce of body to it ..very disappointed Blossom Hill. Very very disappointed Tesco.”

And Blossom Hill Rose has decreased from 11% to 10.5% over the last year, while the price has risen by 50p to £5.50. 

Various Hardys wines have also been weakened.

Hardys Stamp Shiraz Cabernet, for example, was reduced from 13.5% to 11% in 2023, while the cost has risen from £5 to £5.25.

One reviewer wrote: “One star because the ABV has quietly been reduced from 13.5% to 11.5%. Used to buy regularly, never ever again.”

And Hardys Stamp Chardonnay Semillon White Wine 75cl has gone from 13 to 11%, with the price rising by 25p.

Hardys and Blossom Hill have not explained the changes.

But a likely reason is the UK Government’s alcohol duty reforms introduced in August last year – which resulted in the biggest increases in booze duty in almost 50 years.

The duty paid on a bottle of still wine was pushed up by 20%, or 44p, based on an average alcohol strength of 12.5 per cent ABV.

Wines that are 11% have a £2.35 duty imposed on each bottle, whereas any between 11.5% and 14.5% commanded a flat tax rate of £2.67. 

That meant many bottles were pushed down to 11%.

From February, duty rates will change again with a new system of taxation introduced to penalise higher strength drinks, and Labour has pushed through the change in this week’s Budget.

Under the new regime, the single amount of duty paid on wines between 11.5 and 14.5% ABV – £2.67 – will be replaced with increasingly higher payable amounts according to the strength of the wine.

That means a 75cl bottle of wine at 14.5% ABV will see wine duty increase from £2.67 per bottle to £3.21, based on a predicted RPI rate of 3.65%.

But for an 11% bottle the duty payable will be much less at £2.43, an enormous difference of 78p. 

The resulting array of weakened plonks have been dubbed “Rishi wines”, after the former Prime Minister who championed the reforms.

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said it was “bewildering” that Labour chose to support a Rishi Sunak-inspired tax complication when “a long, desperate queue of wine retailers and businesses” have explained it would undermine economic growth.

He added: “The decisions made at this Budget are a bitter blow for all, they will stifle the growth of British business and add another nail in the coffin for hospitality and result in less choice and price rises for consumers.”