Wine most popular Christmas gift but a third will regift

Wine remains the most popular alcoholic beverage to take to a Christmas party, with 59% citing it as their first choice, but a third of those that receive a bottle admit to “regifting” it to another, a survey by Bordeaux Wines has found.

The average Brit receives four bottles of wine throughout the Christmas period and gives away an average of three bottles, yet more than three in ten of us (31%) say we often ‘re-gift’ the wine that we receive.

But over a quarter (26%) admit to not knowing a lot about wine when purchasing wines, with price the deciding factor in most instances, with just over a fifth (21%) saying they buy whatever’s on special offer.

26% of respondents said it was the price that they looked at first, followed by style or grape variety (17%) and country or region (11%).

However we are more likely to trade up at this time of year. According to the WSTA market report, outside of Christmas, consumers spend between £5-6 on average for a bottle of wine. During the festive period, we spend an average of £8.67 on a bottle of wine for our self and £10.64 on each bottle of wine we take to a Christmas party.

On eyeing up the wine aisles this Christmas, food and drink writer, Rebecca Seal, offers this: “My advice would be to have a figure in mind but don’t be solely driven by price. With most people giving wine which costs around £10 a bottle, look to Bordeaux, which offers quality and affordability, with something for every budget and occasion.”

Bordeaux Wines commissioned the research, which was carried out online by Opinion Matters in November and resulted in responses from 2,046 people aged over 18 in the UK.