Now there’s even more choice, if wine is your preferred tipple (Picture: Getty Images)
We’ve all had days where only a large tipple will do – and we’ll soon be able to get a brand new measure whether off the shelf or at the bar.
The pint of wine is no longer just a Gavin and Stacey joke, and you’ll soon be able to buy pints of still and sparkling wine in supermarkets as well as in pubs and bars.
The new one pint size, or 568ml, will sit alongside 200ml and 500ml measures.
Currently still wine can’t be sold in 200ml quantities and sparkling can’t be sold in 500ml measures, but these new rules will allow both to be sold at both volumes, bringing more alignment between the two drinks.
Pint bottles of champagne were sold in the UK before Britain joined the European common market, but production stopped as they didn’t comply with EU weights and measures rules.
The Department for Business and Trade says the new serving size will offer ‘more flexibility and choice’ for customers, and reckon 900 vineyards will benefit from the ‘new post-Brexit freedoms’.
There is no legal obligation for businesses to sell their booze in the new sizes.
Kevin Hollinrake, Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, said: ‘Innovation, freedom and choice – that’s what today’s announcement gives to producers and consumers alike.
‘Our exit from the EU was all about moments just like this, where we can seize new opportunities and provide a real boost to our great British wineries and further growing the economy.’
WineGB chief executive Nicola Bates said: ‘We welcome the chance to be able to harmonise still and sparkling bottle sizes and we are happy to raise a glass to the greater choice.’
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The pint of wine is no longer just a Gavin and Stacey joke.