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You’ll soon be able to buy pints of wine in the UK

New rules mean that both still and sparkling wines will soon be allowed to be sold in imperial measures

Ed Cunningham
Written by
Ed Cunningham
News Editor, UK
Rack of wine in a supermarket, UK
Photograph: Eddie Jordan Photos / Shutterstock.com
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Always wanted to go to a pub, swan up to the bar and order a great big stonking pint of wine? Well, fantasise no longer. The UK government has recently revealed that wine will soon be allowed to be sold in pint-sized measures.

Last week the Department for Business and Trade announced that pints of wine will soon be sold in Britain’s supermarkets, pubs, clubs and restaurants. The gov says this is a result of Brexit and that it’ll be the first time ever that pints of wine have been sold in the country.

From now on, you’ll be able to buy both still and sparkling wine in 200ml, 500ml and 568ml (ie, pint-size) measures, as well as the standard bottle (750ml) and half-bottle (375ml) sizes. Old rules meant that still wine could not be sold in 200ml containers and sparkling wine could not be sold in 500ml bottles.

The new rules intend for wine to be sold in pint-sized bottles (rather than pint glasses, obvs), giving consumers more choice in the amounts of wine they can buy. One of the ideas behind allowing 200ml-sized containers of still wines is that it could open up a market for canned still wine. So who knows, maybe pint-sized cans of wine are on the horizon, too.

Of course, whether or not pints of wine will be on shelves near you will depend on whether winemakers are up for producing bottles in different sizes.

Whatever size bottle it comes in, 2024 looks like it’ll be a massive year for wine in the UK. Guzzling down some English wine featured in our list of the best new things to do in Britain this year, thanks to new vineyards and visitor centres opening up and down the country.

Did you see that here’s the full list of drinks on offer in Wetherspoons’ January sale?

Plus: this picturesque city has been named the UK’s best place to visit in 2024.

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