£10 is the ‘sweet spot’ for wine

Consumers looking to get the maximum quality to price ratio should look to spend £10 on a bottle of wine, according to former Waitrose boss Mark Price.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Price – the former managing director of Waitrose with the self-appointed moniker of ‘The Chubby Grocer’, believes £10 is the “sweet spot” for wine where quality and price collide.

Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival this week, Price revealed: “A lot of the things you get in a bottle of wine are fixed prices. The tax you pay in the UK is the same on every bottle, no matter how expensive.

“The cost of the glass is roughly the same and the transport is probably the same. So if you buy a bottle of wine for £5 the value of the wine inside that bottle is just under 50p. It’s actually 47p.

“If you buy a bottle of wine for £10 the quality of the wine inside the bottle is just under £3. So for twice as much you effectively get wine that is six times the quality.

“If you go up to £20 a bottle the quality of the wine is about seven or eight pounds. So it is better, but you’re effectively doubled up. So if you buy a bottle for about £10 you’ve absolutely hit the sweet spot of quality against cost.”

Price, who attended the festival to promote his book, The Food Lover’s Handbook, believes when wine hits the £30 mark, “you are paying for the château”.

As it stands, only 7% of UK consumers are willing to spend over £10 on a bottle of wine at the supermarket.

The former deputy chairman of the John Lewis Partnership was made a Baron last year. He also sits on the board of directors of Channel 4.