WINE03510 - Spoilt wine: introduction and law

The law which covers spoilt wine relief is paragraph 61 of The Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979, presently, and regulations 25 to 29 of the Wine and Made-wine Regulations 1989. They provide relief from duty on wine which has become spoilt or unfit for use after it has been removed from licensed premises.

The circumstances in which wine producers may judge wines to be spoilt are many and varied. The decision that wine is spoilt is entirely the wine producer’s.

Regulation 25(1) entitles a licensed wine producer to recover duty on wine which has not or will not be consumed in the UK. It does not matter how the wine became spoilt or unfit for use.

Note. Any wine accidentally lost or destroyed after leaving licensed premises, is not entitled to relief under regulation 25(1).

Under regulation 25(2), a claimant must comply with the conditions in the regulations and any other conditions imposed in a public notice. Detailed information on spoilt wine relief can be found in section 13 of Notice 163 (GOV.UK).