Virgin Wines Launches Tips for Beating Wine Prices

Virgin Wines is contacting customers advising them how to beat rising wine prices, driven by a combination of the pound falling against the Euro, increasing bottling prices in France and depleting wine supplies.

• Play the stock market like a Societe General dealer – while the Euro has strengthened, the dollar remains weak. So Chile and Argentina are better value than ever. 

• Drink smart - prices for famous regions (like Bordeaux) and certain sub regions (like St Emilion) have risen to the point where they are only drunk by Russian oligarchs and WAGs. As an alternative, hunt out wines made from the same grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for example) for a fraction of the price, by shopping in Chile, Argentina and South Africa. 

• Avoid famous labels. You can't taste a label, but you are certainly paying for them. So don't. Especially Champagne. At a recent Virgin Wines' blind tasting, a £6.99 sparkling wine received four times as many votes as a famous name champagne costing four times as much.