UK celebrates Brexit dividend with pint-sized wine bottles

"'Pint’ size wine stocked on Britain’s shelves for the first time ever thanks to new freedoms from leaving the European Union," Britain's Department of Business and Trade exclaimed in a Wednesday press release.

In the UK, an imperial pint measures 568 milliliters.

In less enthusiastic tones, government officials also announced that a mooted, much broader revival of imperial weights and measurements was being axed — after more than 98% of the public told a government consultation that they did not want it.

New "pint"-sized bottles were made possible by the UK's vote for Brexit in 2016, and subsequent legislation passed this year which revoked a series of laws that were a legacy of Britain's membership in the EU, the ministry said. These included laws on standardized weights and measures and labeling.

"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," Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business Kevin Hollinrake was quoted as saying.

New bottle size to 'boost innovation'

Introducing the new 568ml bottle size, to go alongside the standard 750 milliliter measure and an expanded range of 200ml and 500ml bottles being permitted to go on sale, is "wholeheartedly backed by industry wanting to reduce burdensome regulations," the ministry claimed in its statement.

It argued it would "help to boost innovation, increase business freedoms and improve choice for consumers." 

Supermarkets, pubs, restaurants and clubs would all be able to sell the new variant, the government said, with the new rules coming into effect at the new year. 

It said 900 UK vineyards would be able to make use of the scheme, although participation remains voluntary.

The standard 750ml (roughly 1.6 US pints, or 1.3 imperial British pints, or roughly 2 Indian pints, if you were wondering!) wine bottle size is standard in most of the world — including some noteworthy remaining bastions of imperial measurements like the US and the UK itself. This is based primarily on constraints on how large glass bottles can be blown practically and with ease at scale. It also equates to about six small wine glasses, or four larger ones.

In the UK, the pint had at times become a symbol of British patriotism amid the Brexit debate. The EU membership did not affect the beer measures of a 568ml pint and half pint in the country, despite occasional claims to the contrary. It did, however, prompt UK officials to move away from using the traditional crown symbol to vouch for the glasses' size — but the crown symbol could still be displayed additionally.

Brits reject plans to bring back imperial measures

As the British government loudly toasted its new fermented freedoms, it also announced it was abandoning plans for a much more widespread return of the imperial weights and measurements system. 

The government had launched a public consultation of consumers, asking if they would like to change from kilos and liters when buying most produce, after the UK more or less converted to the metric system over several decades starting in the 1960s.

"Following the extensive consultation, the Government has decided not to introduce any new legislation in this area. But new guidance has been issued to promote awareness and use of imperial measurements," the statement said. 

According to the government's figures on its public consultation, more than 100,000 people participated.

Of them, 81.1% favored the primarily-metric status quo, 17.6% called for a switch to universal metrification, 0.9% called for more choice and 0.4% wanted imperial measurements only. 

"A key theme that emerged from respondents who were opposed to change to the current units of measuring system was concern that increased choice over units of measurements could present increased costs to businesses and present barriers to international trade," the statement conceded.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic