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Drink responsibly

Choose a bottle with a natural cork

Cork’s Lead Widens Across UK Retail and On-Trade

New APCOR research confirms that UK wine drinkers see cork as the signal of quality. Among the UK’s top 250 retail wines, cork-sealed sales reached £344 million, up 5.9% against 3.5% for the wider market.

MARKET DATA · September 14, 2026

Wines sealed with natural cork command higher prices and are outgrowing the market.

New APCOR research confirms that UK wine drinkers see cork as the signal of quality. Among the UK’s top 250 retail wines, cork-sealed sales reached £344 million, up 5.9% against 3.5% for the wider market.

The on-trade tells the same story. In Britain’s top 50 wine brands, natural cork wines average £36.87 a bottle against £21.13 for screwcap, and their volumes are rising while screwcap’s decline.

Key Facts

  • 2% retail price premium for cork, up from 12.6% in 2021
  • 2% of sales value for wines above £12
  • 3% on-trade value growth for natural cork over two years

 

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