UK duty rise follows dry January
Posted by Gavin Quinney on 30th Jan 2026
We don’t usually mix our end-of-month newsletter with a wine offer but given there’s an increase in UK duty on 1st February, and the end of dry January is in sight, it’s hard to avoid it. So we’ve sent our private customers in the UK an offer they can’t refuse - well, we live in hope.
This, then, is an email for members of the trade and a few others outside the UK. For your info, the dreaded duty rises from 2023 onwards are shown below, along with some fascinating blurb on a few of our wines.
Looking back, our Sauvignon Blanc 2022 had a list price of £12.75 (retail) in the spring of 2023 and duty will have increased by 77p inc VAT per bottle by this coming Monday on a wine at 12.5% abv, so a £13.50 list price going forward would simply reflect the increase in tax. With lower yields in 2024 and 2025 our costs per bottle have gone through the roof - so we’ll have to go much higher in time.
If you have any questions or comments, please email Georgie, Angela and Gavin by clicking this link – or simply reply to this email and Gavin will get back to you.
All the best
Gavin & Angela Quinney
A few of the wines - with tasting notes
These experts tasted our wines last year:
Anne Krebiehl MW (Master of Wine) is ‘a widely published wine writer, awarded author, judge and educator’ – Decanter, Nov 2025. @anneinvino on Instagram
Victoria Moore is an award-winning author and the wine correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. @how_to_drink on Instagram
Chris Kissack celebrated 25 years last year writing as thewinedoctor.com with a focus on Bordeaux and the Loire. With his other hat on he’s a paediatrician with the NHS. @chriswinedoctor on Instagram/X
Tom Gilbey has built a huge following on Instagram in the last two years and has just published ‘Thirsty’ @tomgilbeywine – see also his YouTube channel.
Château Bauduc Sauvignon Blanc 2024
£13.25 in a case of 6
‘Crisp, streamlined, mostly sauvignon, excellent. Definitely a buy.’
Victoria Moore, The Telegraph, Easter Saturday 2025.
‘The palate is exquisitely light, beautifully crisp and pure. Even more importantly, the wine is bedded in a subtle, smooth yeasty texture that softens the vivid freshness and balances this aromatic, bone-dry wine beautifully. This is far too easy to drink and totally refreshing. SCORE 89/100'
Anne Krebiehl MW
'It displays attractive fruit, with a delicately confit edge, with yellow peach and pineapple. This is followed by a rather silky palate, with delicious layers of peach, mango and pineapple, supported by light acidity and a touch of phenolic grip. A nicely composed wine that is drinking well now… 12.5%. 90/100'
Chris Kissack
‘Limes, gooseberries and greengages jump out of the glass then get tickled by a whiff of freshly cut grass and an English hedgerow. It’s a zippy, zingy, ‘keep the party going’ banger, and it’s super classy too. No Oyster Bay trash here.’
Tom Gilbey
Château Bauduc Bordeaux Supérieur 2019
£13.50 in a case of 6
‘At just over five years of age this shows lovely maturing fruit on the nose, with savoury blackberry skins laced with leather and pipe tobacco, the secondary characteristics coming in nicely alongside the berry fruits. Finely textured on the palate, cool and rather modest, with a lacy framework of powdered tannins supporting the evolving fruit, and a nice grip in the finish, this is showing very well. Approachable now with the right dish, there is no doubt this one is still on the up for the moment. Drink or hold. The alcohol is 14%. 90/100.’
Chris Kissack
Also available in magnum:
£27.95 each in a case of 3
‘This is a soft, juicy, plush old boy. I had a ‘go on it’ from Magnum and mistakenly did most of it. Soft on tannin and big on fruit and flesh, it’s what affordable Bordeaux should be – bleedin’ delish.’
Tom Gilbey
Château Bauduc, Blanc de Blancs, Crémant de Bordeaux 2021
£16.50 in a case of 6
89 points in Decanter magazine, November 2025: ’In time for the party season, we present 20 great Crémant buys from around France.’
‘This Blanc de Blancs from Bordeaux is made from Sémillon grapes with just a dash of Sauvignon Blanc. Aged for two years on lees, it opens with a sense of freshly baked sponge cake, followed by that lovely waxiness so typical for Sémillon and green pear juiciness. The palate is exquisitely light, beautifully foamy and bright. This has both ease and elegance and revels in its dryness and slenderness. I like its strait-laced yet creamy freshness. Gavin Quinney, the Englishman in Bordeaux who makes this, clearly knows what he is doing. Score 89/100. Drink 2025-2028. Alc 11%.’ From ‘Krebiehl’s pick: 20 excellent Crémant buys from around France.’
Anne Krebiehl MW, '20 excellent Crémant buys from around France.’
“I really loved the last one I had of this (the 2020). That’s why I asked to see it. It’s properly good. Oh, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?… Can we just talk about how delicious this wine is? Because it’s really, really good. It’s quite honeyed, isn’t it? And biscuity.”
“You see, this is a case in point: I would rather drink, if you’re looking for Christmas sparkling wine, a really good Crémant than a super cheap champagne. Absolutely – every time. Just go for the top quality."
From "Get yourself a glass", with the Telegraph’s wine columnist Victoria Moore with Andrew Neather, 4 Dec 2025 (from 22 mins in).
Château Bauduc Les Trois Hectares Blanc 2022
£12.75 in a case of 6
‘Such a lovely, interesting and different wine this. It’s all herb garden and green apple on the nose. A touch of spice and on the palate it’s like a Bramley Apple Pie. Fruity in flavour and creamy in texture. It’s refreshing, well balanced and a dead ringer for a meaty fish or a Gav Quinney style roast chicken.’
Tom Gilbey
‘A subtle lift on the nose carries both lime peel and lanolin, announcing the evolution of this elegant wine. More air brings a touch of yellow plum. Lime zest and creamy smoothness define the compact, concentrated palate that packs plenty of flavour into its contoured, buffered body. All is subtle about this wine, with its beautiful lime pith and melon skin flavours and a long finish. This is elegant and a picture of understatement. Score 92/100.’
Anne Krebiehl MW
‘There is some lovely maturity on the nose of this 2022, with waxy lemon peel and citrus notes, and a sprinkling of powdered chalk. The palate speaks clearly of the warm potential of the vintage, with a rather svelte core of fruits, sweet peach, orange peel and white flowers, with a lightly peppery energy, supported by the characteristic energy of the vintage… I like the maturity in the fruit here, and it has a sense of drive to it as well. 89/100.’
Chris Kissack
Château Bauduc Les Trois Hectares Rouge 2021
£16.50 in a case of 6
‘Toast and a touch of vanilla appear first on the nose, wrapping themselves around smooth notes of red berry and cherry. The fresh, medium-bodied palate brings juiciness and is beautifully open. While this has substance and oak-kissed fruit, there is nothing heavy about this. A beautiful all-rounder with lovely freshness and a tender frame of fused tannins. Score 89/100.’
Anne Krebielh MW
‘The juiciest and plushest of Gav & Ange’s reds. I love this wine for its softness and suppleness. It wraps itself around your tongue and pops plush juicy plums in to parts of your mouth where you’ve forgotten you’ve got tastebuds. This is Merlot magic.’
Tom Gilbey
‘A nose of sweet and lightly confected blackcurrant, with a minty overlay, reflecting the climatic challenges presented by this vintage. It has a sense of composure on the palate though, with clearly a very sensitive extraction producing a mid-palate of modestly juicy red cherry and blackberry fruits, with a light frame of tannins underneath. This holds up well for a 2021, lighter for sure, but it feels coherent and fresh, with no hard edges, leading to a lightly powdery finish. In the context of the vintage, a success. The alcohol is 13.5%. 89/100.’
Chris Kissack
Red Collection case
£15.50 per bottle in a case of 6
2 bottles Bordeaux Supérieur 2019
1 bottle Bordeaux Supérieur limited edition 2021
1 bottles Les Trois Hectares rouge 2020
1 bottle Les Trois Hectares rouge 2021
1 bottle Les Trois Hectares rouge 2022
A collection case of lovely reds that will be a collector’s item for a mere £13.95 a bottle. We’ve just shipped over the last few bottles of the 2021 limited edition and the 2026 version of this won’t have the 2020 Trois Hectares, which has sold out. A bargain, given half the money goes in UK tax, shipping and home delivery.