FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4038463

LEAD IN:

UK wine industry experts are eyeing the upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union with mixed feelings.

With producers and suppliers heavily reliant on pan-European trade, many remain unsure how Brexit will impact upon business.

STORY-LINE:

Sparkling wine on a summer's day in the English capital.

Glistening flutes and bottles in abundance, and a crowd of happy lunchtime drinkers add to the atmosphere of excitement and discovery, along with an impromptu game of ping pong.

It must be London Wine Week.

This is the third year of the festival, and this year is the most popular to date.

Festival director Emma Murphy says "It's the largest self-guided wine tasting that there is across London. It's kind of the only event of its kind that we have over here. So we work with 125 bars, restaurants, independent merchants who all get involved" .

But although these flutes of fizz are English sparkling wine, much of the wine the festival goers here are tasting is from EU member states such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

The June 23 referendum on whether to quit the European Union is fast approaching. So is this something the industry should fear?

"I wouldn't have said so," says Murphy.

"Wine trade has been going for long enough, even long before the euro, so I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference to be honest with you. Hopefully not anyway."

At the festival hub on London's Devonshire Square, there are pop-up bars featuring wines from across Europe.

These two young graduate trainees are enjoying wines from Portugal, and with their festival wristband, it costs them just five British Pounds for a flight of three.

Oscar Stenbom and Anna Rogers both agree that things may well be different if Britain leaves the union.

"If it's more expensive for them to send the wine here, if there's more tariffs, then yeah I guess it would be," says Anna, while Oscar is concerned about regulation and labelling:

"It would also be more difficult to know what you are drinking because there won't be as many restrictions on labelling the wine based on where it's actually from and the grape it's actually come from."

The New Street wine shop has been taken over by the wine festival. They sell wines from all over the world but today they are holding a tasting featuring wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain.

Most wine drinkers know about the region of Rioja, but Bettina Lemm is informing these festival goers about the region she represents.

"I think they (wines of Ribera del Duero) are still an emerging market, especially in the UK. The UK is an important market for Ribera del Duero, it's the seventh-largest export market for Ribera del Duero but I think that we're still establishing ourselves."

But if the UK is an important export market, is Brexit going to throw the proverbial spanner into the works? Lemm doesn't seem too worried "I think at the moment we're pretty confident as we've seen year to year that exports have grown. I think that's going to continue and I don't think it's a worry that we have at the moment," she says.

Wine used to have a rather old fashioned reputation and a comparatively elderly demographic, but this has changed enormously in recent years.

The prevalence of wine clubs popping up in the UK is an indicator of wine's increasing popularity.

Tom Harrow of Honest Grapes explains why this is "I think this is because people want to engage more with what's in the bottle. It's not just liquid, they want to know the stories behind it, they want to meet the people involved. And there's the sociable aspect, you know wine is fundamentally something which we do with other people," he says.

With 125 venues across the metropolis taking part in this festival, there's plenty of opportunity to enjoy it with friends.

But with such enthusiasm for wine spreading across the country, June 23 could bring disruption, according to Harrow "It's fair to say that we're a bit concerned about the possibilities of Brexit, I think the rising price of the euro against the pound will have a serious effect on quality wine. At the moment more than 60 percent of wine that comes into the UK is shipped in massive great tankers and bottled over here and that's not something we get involved with. But that becomes the only affordable way if the pound plummets against the euro. So I think that it won't be a good thing initially for the wine consumer because the prices of these small artisan wines will go up" .

However, the future might be bright in other, unexpected ways.

"All the English wine makers that I speak to say we are half a degree away from being a perfect climate for sparkling wines at least," says Harrow, and with apologies to climate change icon Al Gore, he adds that "global warming is a good thing for the UK sparkling wine trade."

Reports by the WSTA (Wine and Spirit Trade Association) suggest there is still some way to go as the UK comes in at number six on the list of sales of sparkling wine by origin - but it's rising year on year.

600 million bottles of wine are bottled in the UK.

This makes the UK wine market the sixth largest in the world, generating 173 billion British pounds of economic activity, according to the WSTA. 10 billion British pounds are made through sales.

Also being showcased here is one of the new kids on the alcohol block, Regal Rogue Vermouth.

According to brand founder Mark Ward, vermouth, by definition, is 75 percent wine. It must have wormwood and it must have an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 15 to 24 percent. These three things have to be in place for a producer to put vermouth on the bottle or it flouts recent EU regulations.

Ward, who was brought up in hospitality, began the project in Australia where he worked closely with top Australian chefs who introduced him to indigenous herbs and spices.

"It seemed like a really obvious thing to do, marrying the herbs and spices with this abundance of Australian wine to create a New World style of vermouth. And you know the tradition of vermouth is really led by the European markets. You know, Italian, French, now Spanish - but now there are vermouths coming out of America, the UK, Germany and obviously Australia. So pretty much anywhere where you find wine now, you will find a vermouth of some sort." he says.

Ward is attempting to educate the wine drinking market which, he believes, is mostly unaware of the fact that vermouth is fundamentally a wine.

This can only be helped by a new pop up for 2016, the Vermouth Bar.

The parent company of London Wine Week is the aptly named "Drink Up London", and they're already preparing for the 2017 event - Brexit or no Brexit.

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4038463

LEAD IN:

UK wine industry experts are eyeing the upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union with mixed feelings.

With producers and suppliers heavily reliant on pan-European trade, many remain unsure how Brexit will impact upon business.

STORY-LINE:

Sparkling wine on a summer's day in the English capital.

Glistening flutes and bottles in abundance, and a crowd of happy lunchtime drinkers add to the atmosphere of excitement and discovery, along with an impromptu game of ping pong.

It must be London Wine Week.

This is the third year of the festival, and this year is the most popular to date.

Festival director Emma Murphy says "It's the largest self-guided wine tasting that there is across London. It's kind of the only event of its kind that we have over here. So we work with 125 bars, restaurants, independent merchants who all get involved" .

But although these flutes of fizz are English sparkling wine, much of the wine the festival goers here are tasting is from EU member states such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

The June 23 referendum on whether to quit the European Union is fast approaching. So is this something the industry should fear?

"I wouldn't have said so," says Murphy.

"Wine trade has been going for long enough, even long before the euro, so I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference to be honest with you. Hopefully not anyway."

At the festival hub on London's Devonshire Square, there are pop-up bars featuring wines from across Europe.

These two young graduate trainees are enjoying wines from Portugal, and with their festival wristband, it costs them just five British Pounds for a flight of three.

Oscar Stenbom and Anna Rogers both agree that things may well be different if Britain leaves the union.

"If it's more expensive for them to send the wine here, if there's more tariffs, then yeah I guess it would be," says Anna, while Oscar is concerned about regulation and labelling:

"It would also be more difficult to know what you are drinking because there won't be as many restrictions on labelling the wine based on where it's actually from and the grape it's actually come from."

The New Street wine shop has been taken over by the wine festival. They sell wines from all over the world but today they are holding a tasting featuring wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain.

Most wine drinkers know about the region of Rioja, but Bettina Lemm is informing these festival goers about the region she represents.

"I think they (wines of Ribera del Duero) are still an emerging market, especially in the UK. The UK is an important market for Ribera del Duero, it's the seventh-largest export market for Ribera del Duero but I think that we're still establishing ourselves."

But if the UK is an important export market, is Brexit going to throw the proverbial spanner into the works? Lemm doesn't seem too worried "I think at the moment we're pretty confident as we've seen year to year that exports have grown. I think that's going to continue and I don't think it's a worry that we have at the moment," she says.

Wine used to have a rather old fashioned reputation and a comparatively elderly demographic, but this has changed enormously in recent years.

The prevalence of wine clubs popping up in the UK is an indicator of wine's increasing popularity.

Tom Harrow of Honest Grapes explains why this is "I think this is because people want to engage more with what's in the bottle. It's not just liquid, they want to know the stories behind it, they want to meet the people involved. And there's the sociable aspect, you know wine is fundamentally something which we do with other people," he says.

With 125 venues across the metropolis taking part in this festival, there's plenty of opportunity to enjoy it with friends.

But with such enthusiasm for wine spreading across the country, June 23 could bring disruption, according to Harrow "It's fair to say that we're a bit concerned about the possibilities of Brexit, I think the rising price of the euro against the pound will have a serious effect on quality wine. At the moment more than 60 percent of wine that comes into the UK is shipped in massive great tankers and bottled over here and that's not something we get involved with. But that becomes the only affordable way if the pound plummets against the euro. So I think that it won't be a good thing initially for the wine consumer because the prices of these small artisan wines will go up" .

However, the future might be bright in other, unexpected ways.

"All the English wine makers that I speak to say we are half a degree away from being a perfect climate for sparkling wines at least," says Harrow, and with apologies to climate change icon Al Gore, he adds that "global warming is a good thing for the UK sparkling wine trade."

Reports by the WSTA (Wine and Spirit Trade Association) suggest there is still some way to go as the UK comes in at number six on the list of sales of sparkling wine by origin - but it's rising year on year.

600 million bottles of wine are bottled in the UK.

This makes the UK wine market the sixth largest in the world, generating 173 billion British pounds of economic activity, according to the WSTA. 10 billion British pounds are made through sales.

Also being showcased here is one of the new kids on the alcohol block, Regal Rogue Vermouth.

According to brand founder Mark Ward, vermouth, by definition, is 75 percent wine. It must have wormwood and it must have an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 15 to 24 percent. These three things have to be in place for a producer to put vermouth on the bottle or it flouts recent EU regulations.

Ward, who was brought up in hospitality, began the project in Australia where he worked closely with top Australian chefs who introduced him to indigenous herbs and spices.

"It seemed like a really obvious thing to do, marrying the herbs and spices with this abundance of Australian wine to create a New World style of vermouth. And you know the tradition of vermouth is really led by the European markets. You know, Italian, French, now Spanish - but now there are vermouths coming out of America, the UK, Germany and obviously Australia. So pretty much anywhere where you find wine now, you will find a vermouth of some sort." he says.

Ward is attempting to educate the wine drinking market which, he believes, is mostly unaware of the fact that vermouth is fundamentally a wine.

This can only be helped by a new pop up for 2016, the Vermouth Bar.

The parent company of London Wine Week is the aptly named "Drink Up London", and they're already preparing for the 2017 event - Brexit or no Brexit.

AP Television

London - 27 May 2016

1. Close of wine glasses

2. Bartender pouring sparkling wine

3. Tilt down on central courtyard at Devonshire Square, the hub for London Wine Week

4. Group of friends enjoying English sparkling wine

5. Men playing table tennis

6. Sign reading (English) "London Wine Week"

7. Set up shot of Emma Murphy, director of London Wine Week

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Emma Murphy, director of London Wine Week

"What's unique about it? It's the largest self-guided wine tasting that there is across London. It's kind of the only event of its kind that we have over here. So we work with 125 bars, restaurants, independent merchants who all get involved whether that's with offers, special menus or ticketed events across the week."

9. Two women with wine flight selection

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Emma Murphy, director of London Wine Week

(Responding to the question Do you think a Brexit will affect the wine industry negatively?)

"I wouldn't have said so, because I mean, I think, you know, wine trade has been going for long enough, even long before the euro, so I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference to be honest with you. Hopefully not anyway."

11. Sign reading (English) "Pop into our pop up wine bars"

12. Various of Portuguese wine pop up

13. Mid of graduate trainees in insurance Oscar Stenpom and Anna Rogers

14. Flight of Portuguese wines

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Stenbom and Anna Rogers, Insurance Graduate Trainees:

(Responding to question Do you think a Brexit will mean it will be more difficult for people to access quality wine?)

Stenbom: "Yes,"

Rogers: "I guess so, I mean if it's more expensive for them to send the wine here, if there's more tariffs, then yeah I guess it would be."

Stenbom: "It would also be more difficult to know what you're drinking, because there won't be as many restrictions on labelling the wine based on where it's actually from and the grape it's actually come from."

16. Pull focus of Spanish wine labels

17. Vintage bottles of fortified wine

18. Side view of Spanish wine bottles

19. Set up shot of Bettina Lemm with wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Lemm, Westbury Communications (which represents the Ribera del Duero region in the UK):

"I think they (wines of Ribera del Duero) are still an emerging market, especially in the UK. The UK is an important market for Ribera del Duero, it's the seventh-largest export market for Ribera del Duero, but I think that we're still establishing ourselves. A lot of people know some big names from the region, and we're just trying to bring attention to some other grape producers who might not yet have the same recognition."

21. Close of wine labels

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Lemm, Westbury Communications (who represent the Ribera del Duero region in the UK):

(Responding to the question are you worried about the possibility of a Brexit affecting your export market?)

"I think at the moment we're pretty confident, as we've seen year to year that exports have grown. I think that's going to continue and I don't think it's a worry that we have at the moment."

23. Pan from mediaeval knight sculpture to pop up courtyard

24. Mid of Provence wines pop up

25. Establisher shot of Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes Wine Club

26. Close of Harrow eyeing the wine

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes:

"There's been a real rise in wine clubs in London and the UK generally of late, and I think this is because people want to engage more with what's in the bottle. It's not just liquid, they want to know the stories behind it, they want to meet the people involved. And there's the sociable aspect, you know wine is fundamentally something which we do with other people."

28. Mid of woman laughing over a glass of wine

29. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes:

"It's fair to say that we're a bit concerned about the possibilities of Brexit, I think the rising price of the euro against the pound will have a serious effect on quality wine. At the moment more than 60 percent of wine that comes into the UK is shipped in massive great tankers and then bottled over here and that's not something we get involved with. But that becomes the only affordable way if the pound plummets against the euro. So I think that it won't be a good thing initially for the wine consumer because the prices of these small artisan wines will go up."

30. Woman at table with wine

31. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes:

"All the English wine makers that I speak to say we are half a degree away from being a perfect climate for sparkling wines at least - and even the whites, and to an extent the reds are really coming up. So I have to say it - sorry Al Gore - global warming is a good thing for the UK sparkling wine trade."

32. Various of English rose and white sparkling wines

33. Vermouth being poured into a glass

34. Various of "Regal Rogue" Vermouth bottle

35. Tilt up of Mark Ward, founder of Regal Rogue vermouth, and his produce

36. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Ward, founder of Regal Rogue vermouth:

"It seemed like a really obvious thing to do, marrying the herbs and spices with this abundance of Australian wine to create a New World style of vermouth. And you know the tradition of vermouth is really led by the European markets. You know, Italian, French, now Spanish - but now there are vermouths coming out of America, the UK, Germany and obviously Australia. So pretty much anywhere where you find wine now, you will find a vermouth of some sort."

37. Crowd of London Wine Week attendees at the Vermouth Bar

38. Mid of vermouth cocktails being made

39. Focus pull of sign reading (English) "Drink Up"

LENGTH: 6:02

LEAD IN:

UK wine industry experts are eyeing the upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union with mixed feelings.

With producers and suppliers heavily reliant on pan-European trade, many remain unsure how Brexit will impact upon business.

STORY-LINE:

Sparkling wine on a summer's day in the English capital.

Glistening flutes and bottles in abundance, and a crowd of happy lunchtime drinkers add to the atmosphere of excitement and discovery, along with an impromptu game of ping pong.

It must be London Wine Week.

This is the third year of the festival, and this year is the most popular to date.

Festival director Emma Murphy says "It's the largest self-guided wine tasting that there is across London. It's kind of the only event of its kind that we have over here. So we work with 125 bars, restaurants, independent merchants who all get involved" .

But although these flutes of fizz are English sparkling wine, much of the wine the festival goers here are tasting is from EU member states such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

The June 23 referendum on whether to quit the European Union is fast approaching. So is this something the industry should fear?

"I wouldn't have said so," says Murphy.

"Wine trade has been going for long enough, even long before the euro, so I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference to be honest with you. Hopefully not anyway."

At the festival hub on London's Devonshire Square, there are pop-up bars featuring wines from across Europe.

These two young graduate trainees are enjoying wines from Portugal, and with their festival wristband, it costs them just five British Pounds for a flight of three.

Oscar Stenbom and Anna Rogers both agree that things may well be different if Britain leaves the union.

"If it's more expensive for them to send the wine here, if there's more tariffs, then yeah I guess it would be," says Anna, while Oscar is concerned about regulation and labelling:

"It would also be more difficult to know what you are drinking because there won't be as many restrictions on labelling the wine based on where it's actually from and the grape it's actually come from."

The New Street wine shop has been taken over by the wine festival. They sell wines from all over the world but today they are holding a tasting featuring wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain.

Most wine drinkers know about the region of Rioja, but Bettina Lemm is informing these festival goers about the region she represents.

"I think they (wines of Ribera del Duero) are still an emerging market, especially in the UK. The UK is an important market for Ribera del Duero, it's the seventh-largest export market for Ribera del Duero but I think that we're still establishing ourselves."

But if the UK is an important export market, is Brexit going to throw the proverbial spanner into the works? Lemm doesn't seem too worried "I think at the moment we're pretty confident as we've seen year to year that exports have grown. I think that's going to continue and I don't think it's a worry that we have at the moment," she says.

Wine used to have a rather old fashioned reputation and a comparatively elderly demographic, but this has changed enormously in recent years.

The prevalence of wine clubs popping up in the UK is an indicator of wine's increasing popularity.

Tom Harrow of Honest Grapes explains why this is "I think this is because people want to engage more with what's in the bottle. It's not just liquid, they want to know the stories behind it, they want to meet the people involved. And there's the sociable aspect, you know wine is fundamentally something which we do with other people," he says.

With 125 venues across the metropolis taking part in this festival, there's plenty of opportunity to enjoy it with friends.

But with such enthusiasm for wine spreading across the country, June 23 could bring disruption, according to Harrow "It's fair to say that we're a bit concerned about the possibilities of Brexit, I think the rising price of the euro against the pound will have a serious effect on quality wine. At the moment more than 60 percent of wine that comes into the UK is shipped in massive great tankers and bottled over here and that's not something we get involved with. But that becomes the only affordable way if the pound plummets against the euro. So I think that it won't be a good thing initially for the wine consumer because the prices of these small artisan wines will go up" .

However, the future might be bright in other, unexpected ways.

"All the English wine makers that I speak to say we are half a degree away from being a perfect climate for sparkling wines at least," says Harrow, and with apologies to climate change icon Al Gore, he adds that "global warming is a good thing for the UK sparkling wine trade."

Reports by the WSTA (Wine and Spirit Trade Association) suggest there is still some way to go as the UK comes in at number six on the list of sales of sparkling wine by origin - but it's rising year on year.

600 million bottles of wine are bottled in the UK.

This makes the UK wine market the sixth largest in the world, generating 173 billion British pounds of economic activity, according to the WSTA. 10 billion British pounds are made through sales.

Also being showcased here is one of the new kids on the alcohol block, Regal Rogue Vermouth.

According to brand founder Mark Ward, vermouth, by definition, is 75 percent wine. It must have wormwood and it must have an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 15 to 24 percent. These three things have to be in place for a producer to put vermouth on the bottle or it flouts recent EU regulations.

Ward, who was brought up in hospitality, began the project in Australia where he worked closely with top Australian chefs who introduced him to indigenous herbs and spices.

"It seemed like a really obvious thing to do, marrying the herbs and spices with this abundance of Australian wine to create a New World style of vermouth. And you know the tradition of vermouth is really led by the European markets. You know, Italian, French, now Spanish - but now there are vermouths coming out of America, the UK, Germany and obviously Australia. So pretty much anywhere where you find wine now, you will find a vermouth of some sort." he says.

Ward is attempting to educate the wine drinking market which, he believes, is mostly unaware of the fact that vermouth is fundamentally a wine.

This can only be helped by a new pop up for 2016, the Vermouth Bar.

The parent company of London Wine Week is the aptly named "Drink Up London", and they're already preparing for the 2017 event - Brexit or no Brexit.

LEAD IN:

UK wine industry experts are eyeing the upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union with mixed feelings.

With producers and suppliers heavily reliant on pan-European trade, many remain unsure how Brexit will impact upon business.

STORY-LINE:

Sparkling wine on a summer's day in the English capital.

Glistening flutes and bottles in abundance, and a crowd of happy lunchtime drinkers add to the atmosphere of excitement and discovery, along with an impromptu game of ping pong.

It must be London Wine Week.

This is the third year of the festival, and this year is the most popular to date.

Festival director Emma Murphy says "It's the largest self-guided wine tasting that there is across London. It's kind of the only event of its kind that we have over here. So we work with 125 bars, restaurants, independent merchants who all get involved" .

But although these flutes of fizz are English sparkling wine, much of the wine the festival goers here are tasting is from EU member states such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

The June 23 referendum on whether to quit the European Union is fast approaching. So is this something the industry should fear?

"I wouldn't have said so," says Murphy.

"Wine trade has been going for long enough, even long before the euro, so I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference to be honest with you. Hopefully not anyway."

At the festival hub on London's Devonshire Square, there are pop-up bars featuring wines from across Europe.

These two young graduate trainees are enjoying wines from Portugal, and with their festival wristband, it costs them just five British Pounds for a flight of three.

Oscar Stenbom and Anna Rogers both agree that things may well be different if Britain leaves the union.

"If it's more expensive for them to send the wine here, if there's more tariffs, then yeah I guess it would be," says Anna, while Oscar is concerned about regulation and labelling:

"It would also be more difficult to know what you are drinking because there won't be as many restrictions on labelling the wine based on where it's actually from and the grape it's actually come from."

The New Street wine shop has been taken over by the wine festival. They sell wines from all over the world but today they are holding a tasting featuring wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain.

Most wine drinkers know about the region of Rioja, but Bettina Lemm is informing these festival goers about the region she represents.

"I think they (wines of Ribera del Duero) are still an emerging market, especially in the UK. The UK is an important market for Ribera del Duero, it's the seventh-largest export market for Ribera del Duero but I think that we're still establishing ourselves."

But if the UK is an important export market, is Brexit going to throw the proverbial spanner into the works? Lemm doesn't seem too worried "I think at the moment we're pretty confident as we've seen year to year that exports have grown. I think that's going to continue and I don't think it's a worry that we have at the moment," she says.

Wine used to have a rather old fashioned reputation and a comparatively elderly demographic, but this has changed enormously in recent years.

The prevalence of wine clubs popping up in the UK is an indicator of wine's increasing popularity.

Tom Harrow of Honest Grapes explains why this is "I think this is because people want to engage more with what's in the bottle. It's not just liquid, they want to know the stories behind it, they want to meet the people involved. And there's the sociable aspect, you know wine is fundamentally something which we do with other people," he says.

With 125 venues across the metropolis taking part in this festival, there's plenty of opportunity to enjoy it with friends.

But with such enthusiasm for wine spreading across the country, June 23 could bring disruption, according to Harrow "It's fair to say that we're a bit concerned about the possibilities of Brexit, I think the rising price of the euro against the pound will have a serious effect on quality wine. At the moment more than 60 percent of wine that comes into the UK is shipped in massive great tankers and bottled over here and that's not something we get involved with. But that becomes the only affordable way if the pound plummets against the euro. So I think that it won't be a good thing initially for the wine consumer because the prices of these small artisan wines will go up" .

However, the future might be bright in other, unexpected ways.

"All the English wine makers that I speak to say we are half a degree away from being a perfect climate for sparkling wines at least," says Harrow, and with apologies to climate change icon Al Gore, he adds that "global warming is a good thing for the UK sparkling wine trade."

Reports by the WSTA (Wine and Spirit Trade Association) suggest there is still some way to go as the UK comes in at number six on the list of sales of sparkling wine by origin - but it's rising year on year.

600 million bottles of wine are bottled in the UK.

This makes the UK wine market the sixth largest in the world, generating 173 billion British pounds of economic activity, according to the WSTA. 10 billion British pounds are made through sales.

Also being showcased here is one of the new kids on the alcohol block, Regal Rogue Vermouth.

According to brand founder Mark Ward, vermouth, by definition, is 75 percent wine. It must have wormwood and it must have an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 15 to 24 percent. These three things have to be in place for a producer to put vermouth on the bottle or it flouts recent EU regulations.

Ward, who was brought up in hospitality, began the project in Australia where he worked closely with top Australian chefs who introduced him to indigenous herbs and spices.

"It seemed like a really obvious thing to do, marrying the herbs and spices with this abundance of Australian wine to create a New World style of vermouth. And you know the tradition of vermouth is really led by the European markets. You know, Italian, French, now Spanish - but now there are vermouths coming out of America, the UK, Germany and obviously Australia. So pretty much anywhere where you find wine now, you will find a vermouth of some sort." he says.

Ward is attempting to educate the wine drinking market which, he believes, is mostly unaware of the fact that vermouth is fundamentally a wine.

This can only be helped by a new pop up for 2016, the Vermouth Bar.

The parent company of London Wine Week is the aptly named "Drink Up London", and they're already preparing for the 2017 event - Brexit or no Brexit.

AP Television

London - 27 May 2016

1. Close of wine glasses

2. Bartender pouring sparkling wine

3. Tilt down on central courtyard at Devonshire Square, the hub for London Wine Week

4. Group of friends enjoying English sparkling wine

5. Men playing table tennis

6. Sign reading (English) "London Wine Week"

7. Set up shot of Emma Murphy, director of London Wine Week

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Emma Murphy, director of London Wine Week

"What's unique about it? It's the largest self-guided wine tasting that there is across London. It's kind of the only event of its kind that we have over here. So we work with 125 bars, restaurants, independent merchants who all get involved whether that's with offers, special menus or ticketed events across the week."

9. Two women with wine flight selection

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Emma Murphy, director of London Wine Week

(Responding to the question Do you think a Brexit will affect the wine industry negatively?)

"I wouldn't have said so, because I mean, I think, you know, wine trade has been going for long enough, even long before the euro, so I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference to be honest with you. Hopefully not anyway."

11. Sign reading (English) "Pop into our pop up wine bars"

12. Various of Portuguese wine pop up

13. Mid of graduate trainees in insurance Oscar Stenpom and Anna Rogers

14. Flight of Portuguese wines

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Stenbom and Anna Rogers, Insurance Graduate Trainees:

(Responding to question Do you think a Brexit will mean it will be more difficult for people to access quality wine?)

Stenbom: "Yes,"

Rogers: "I guess so, I mean if it's more expensive for them to send the wine here, if there's more tariffs, then yeah I guess it would be."

Stenbom: "It would also be more difficult to know what you're drinking, because there won't be as many restrictions on labelling the wine based on where it's actually from and the grape it's actually come from."

16. Pull focus of Spanish wine labels

17. Vintage bottles of fortified wine

18. Side view of Spanish wine bottles

19. Set up shot of Bettina Lemm with wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Lemm, Westbury Communications (which represents the Ribera del Duero region in the UK):

"I think they (wines of Ribera del Duero) are still an emerging market, especially in the UK. The UK is an important market for Ribera del Duero, it's the seventh-largest export market for Ribera del Duero, but I think that we're still establishing ourselves. A lot of people know some big names from the region, and we're just trying to bring attention to some other grape producers who might not yet have the same recognition."

21. Close of wine labels

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Lemm, Westbury Communications (who represent the Ribera del Duero region in the UK):

(Responding to the question are you worried about the possibility of a Brexit affecting your export market?)

"I think at the moment we're pretty confident, as we've seen year to year that exports have grown. I think that's going to continue and I don't think it's a worry that we have at the moment."

23. Pan from mediaeval knight sculpture to pop up courtyard

24. Mid of Provence wines pop up

25. Establisher shot of Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes Wine Club

26. Close of Harrow eyeing the wine

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes:

"There's been a real rise in wine clubs in London and the UK generally of late, and I think this is because people want to engage more with what's in the bottle. It's not just liquid, they want to know the stories behind it, they want to meet the people involved. And there's the sociable aspect, you know wine is fundamentally something which we do with other people."

28. Mid of woman laughing over a glass of wine

29. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes:

"It's fair to say that we're a bit concerned about the possibilities of Brexit, I think the rising price of the euro against the pound will have a serious effect on quality wine. At the moment more than 60 percent of wine that comes into the UK is shipped in massive great tankers and then bottled over here and that's not something we get involved with. But that becomes the only affordable way if the pound plummets against the euro. So I think that it won't be a good thing initially for the wine consumer because the prices of these small artisan wines will go up."

30. Woman at table with wine

31. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Harrow, wine director of Honest Grapes:

"All the English wine makers that I speak to say we are half a degree away from being a perfect climate for sparkling wines at least - and even the whites, and to an extent the reds are really coming up. So I have to say it - sorry Al Gore - global warming is a good thing for the UK sparkling wine trade."

32. Various of English rose and white sparkling wines

33. Vermouth being poured into a glass

34. Various of "Regal Rogue" Vermouth bottle

35. Tilt up of Mark Ward, founder of Regal Rogue vermouth, and his produce

36. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Ward, founder of Regal Rogue vermouth:

"It seemed like a really obvious thing to do, marrying the herbs and spices with this abundance of Australian wine to create a New World style of vermouth. And you know the tradition of vermouth is really led by the European markets. You know, Italian, French, now Spanish - but now there are vermouths coming out of America, the UK, Germany and obviously Australia. So pretty much anywhere where you find wine now, you will find a vermouth of some sort."

37. Crowd of London Wine Week attendees at the Vermouth Bar

38. Mid of vermouth cocktails being made

39. Focus pull of sign reading (English) "Drink Up"

LENGTH: 6:02

LEADIN

Food poverty has been rising in the UK, in the wake of years of economic austerity.

Now the Conservative government has called a snap-election on June 8, increasing uncertainty about future government policies.

Community activists in London are providing free meals and a food-sharing fridge to help low-income residents and reduce food waste.

STORYLINE

Cranberry and walnut cakes sell for a couple of pounds (2.5 USD) at the Ritzy Cinema cafe in Brixton, south London.

But many are often thrown away once they've reached their best before dates, contributing to food waste in the local community.

That's despite the fact that they are still perfectly good to eat and there are plenty of mouths that would want them.

But there's a new community effort to hold back the tide of discarded processed and fresh goods.

A group of 25 food activists people came up with the idea of starting a People's Fridge, in a shared workspace for start-ups, small businesses and social entrepreneurs, called Impact Hub Brixton.

The People's Fridge is a public fridge where local businesses and residents can leave spare, edible food for others.

And so employees at the Ritzy Cinema now bring their cafe's surplus cakes for people in the community to have for free, rather than sending it to landfill.

"We heard about it, a staff member had come down and heard about the project and it just seemed like a great idea," says Sarah Cook, the Ritzy Cinema's Marketing Manager.

"Businesses like ours, we waste a lot of food off, to then donate it to people in need and help support the community in Brixton, which we are a big part of, is kind of important to us."

Organisers held a crowdfunding campaign to get the fridge project started, raising more than £2,000 (2,556 USD).

Volunteers run the fridge to cut food waste, encourage food sharing and help tackle food poverty.

One of the co-founders, Rebecca Trevalyan, says after a couple of months of the fridge being open there's brisk activity.

"We're seeing lots of donations coming into the fridge, it has been certainly full over the last couple of weeks," Trevalyan says.

According to the founders, food waste is a big issue in the UK valued at around £17 billion (21bn USD) each year, with restaurants throwing away 900,000 tonnes of food annually.

"In terms of demand for it, and need for food, we know that increasing numbers of people are turning to food banks, unfortunately, and we know that food banks don't currently offer fresh food," Trevalyan says.

"There is therefore a gap for the fridge in providing that fresh source of food, but also being a smart way to deal with food surplus."

Trevalyan adds that it is not only the very poor who are in need of help.

"There are lots of people who are in work who are receiving an income but who still can't afford the rising costs of food and who really benefit from such initiatives.

"Here, from my experience, it certainly feels like there is demand and the demand is rising."

The fridge appears to be mutually beneficial.

"Food we've put on the shelves, or had put on the shelves is generally leaving the shelves within 36 hours of it being there," Trevalyan says.

The founders were inspired by similar fridges in Spain, Germany, and India as well as Somerset and Derbyshire in the UK. But this is the first time the concept has been brought to London.

They know that the fridge will not end the issue of food poverty, but it is one of a number of methods which can be used to combat the problem.

This is as UK welfare benefits have been cut over recent years.

According to the Trussell Trust, that runs food banks across the UK, it distributed more than 519,000 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis from April to September 2016. That's up from about 113,000 such parcels for the same period in 2012.

It says the primary reasons for food bank referral are benefit changes and delays and low incomes, issues some say are at risk further from a potentially weakened UK economy post Brexit.

Now that a general election in the UK has been called for 8 June, uncertainty is rife.

One organisation offering free meals in 34 locations across the country, has already seen greater pressure on its services in recent years.

"About a year and a half ago, a local drop in centre for elderly people closed down. It used to serve a hot meal everyday for people over the age of 50," says Alex Cameron, a volunteer at the charity Food Cycle in London's Marylebone.

"And with the closure of that, lots of people were left without a central place to come and meet. It was really damaging to the community actually,"

Food Cycle aims to relieve food poverty and provide a community for people to be a part of. It takes food surplus donations, primarily from supermarkets, and cooks meals for people to attend.

Since the referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union in June 2016, the country has already seen price rises in imported food products, as the British sterling has fallen in value. Food prices are expected to grow by between 5 percent and 8 percent in 2017, according to the Food and Drink Federation.

Cameron says she has seen an impact already: "Well, I have to admit I've noticed that the price of the butter that we buy goes up.

"So as a charity we're going to have to start spending more on the extra food that we buy to compliment the food that's surplus.

"I also think that it will have a knock-on effect when basic ingredients and foods go up in price. These are the people that are most affected by that."

One analyst says further inflation and economic instability as the Brexit process completes could increase the already record number of people using free food sources.

"I think Brexit is going to have a negative impact on incomes across the whole spectrum, high-income earners and low-income earners. But the difference is that low-income earners have less room for manoeuvre," says Sarah Boumphrey, Director of Economies and Consumers at the market researchers Euromonitor.

The team behind the People's Fridge think that, if their project is successful, they can help others set up community fridges across the UK.

And, although they may not want it, conditions may be right for just that.

London, UK - 12 April 2017

1. Various two employees of the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, delivering cakes to the People's Fridge

2. Can of soup and box of cranberry and walnut cakes in the People's Fridge

3. Tilt down fridge

4. Rack focus of sign on fridge reading (English) "I help cut food waste"

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Cook, Marketing Manager, Ritzy Cinema:

"We heard about it, a staff member had come down and heard about the project and it just seemed like a great idea. Businesses like ours, we waste a lot of food off, to then donate it to people who are in need and help support the community in Brixton, which we are a big part of, is kind of important to us."

6. Pan right of street in Brixton to exterior of Ritzy Cinema

7. Various of people in the Ritzy Cinema bar and cafe eating and drinking

8. Various of person taking food from the People's Fridge

9. Set up shot of Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge:

"Food we've put on the shelves, or we've had put on the shelves is generally leaving the shelves within 36 hours of it being there."

11. Various of onions and greens in the fridge

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge:

"We're seeing lots of donations coming into the fridge, it has been certainly full over the last couple of weeks. In terms of demand for it, and need for food, we know that increasing numbers of people are turning to food banks unfortunately and we know that food banks don't currently offer fresh food. There is therefore a gap for the fridge in providing that fresh source of food, but also being a smart way to deal with food surplus."

13. People walking past fridge

14. Food items in the fridge

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge:

"There are lots of people who are in work who are receiving an income, but who still can't afford the rising costs of food and who really benefit from such initiatives. Here, from my experience, it certainly feels like there is demand and the demand is rising."

16. Various of people eating at a dinner held by Food Cycle in a church in Marylebone

17. Maggie at the table with other diners

18. Maggie in front of a bowl of food

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Maggie (No last name given), Marylebone resident

"Oh, it helps you a lot really. If you are only on your pension. But yes, very, very good. It's good all round and they're lovely people here."

20. Volunteers preparing food in the kitchen

21. Volunteer Alex Cameron serving diners

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Alex Cameron, volunteer:

"About a year and a half ago, a local drop in centre for elderly people closed down. It used to serve a hot meal everyday for people over the age of 50. And with the closure of that lots of people were left without a central place to come and meet. It was really damaging to the community actually."

23. Volunteer preparing food in the kitchen

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Alex Cameron, volunteer:

"Well, I have to admit I've noticed that the price of the butter that we buy goes up. So as a charity we're going to have to start spending more on the extra food that we buy to compliment the food that's surplus. I also think that it will have a knock-on effect when basic ingredients and foods go up in price, these are the people that are most affected by that."

25. Various of woman eating

26. Set up shot of Sarah Boumphrey, Director, Economies and Consumers for market researchers Euromonitor

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Boumphrey, Director, Economies and Consumers for Euromonitor:

"I think Brexit is going to have a negative impact on incomes across the whole spectrum, high-income earners and low-income earners. But the difference is that low-income earners have less room for manoeuvre. They can't direct their spending elsewhere. They can't save less to help with higher food prices. So they have less of a security net."

28. A diner at Food Cycle

29. An empty bowl

30. Diners at Food Cycle

31. Various of a man taking food from the People's Fridge

LEADIN

Food poverty has been rising in the UK, in the wake of years of economic austerity.

Now the Conservative government has called a snap-election on June 8, increasing uncertainty about future government policies.

Community activists in London are providing free meals and a food-sharing fridge to help low-income residents and reduce food waste.

STORYLINE

Cranberry and walnut cakes sell for a couple of pounds (2.5 USD) at the Ritzy Cinema cafe in Brixton, south London.

But many are often thrown away once they've reached their best before dates, contributing to food waste in the local community.

That's despite the fact that they are still perfectly good to eat and there are plenty of mouths that would want them.

But there's a new community effort to hold back the tide of discarded processed and fresh goods.

A group of 25 food activists people came up with the idea of starting a People's Fridge, in a shared workspace for start-ups, small businesses and social entrepreneurs, called Impact Hub Brixton.

The People's Fridge is a public fridge where local businesses and residents can leave spare, edible food for others.

And so employees at the Ritzy Cinema now bring their cafe's surplus cakes for people in the community to have for free, rather than sending it to landfill.

"We heard about it, a staff member had come down and heard about the project and it just seemed like a great idea," says Sarah Cook, the Ritzy Cinema's Marketing Manager.

"Businesses like ours, we waste a lot of food off, to then donate it to people in need and help support the community in Brixton, which we are a big part of, is kind of important to us."

Organisers held a crowdfunding campaign to get the fridge project started, raising more than £2,000 (2,556 USD).

Volunteers run the fridge to cut food waste, encourage food sharing and help tackle food poverty.

One of the co-founders, Rebecca Trevalyan, says after a couple of months of the fridge being open there's brisk activity.

"We're seeing lots of donations coming into the fridge, it has been certainly full over the last couple of weeks," Trevalyan says.

According to the founders, food waste is a big issue in the UK valued at around £17 billion (21bn USD) each year, with restaurants throwing away 900,000 tonnes of food annually.

"In terms of demand for it, and need for food, we know that increasing numbers of people are turning to food banks, unfortunately, and we know that food banks don't currently offer fresh food," Trevalyan says.

"There is therefore a gap for the fridge in providing that fresh source of food, but also being a smart way to deal with food surplus."

Trevalyan adds that it is not only the very poor who are in need of help.

"There are lots of people who are in work who are receiving an income but who still can't afford the rising costs of food and who really benefit from such initiatives.

"Here, from my experience, it certainly feels like there is demand and the demand is rising."

The fridge appears to be mutually beneficial.

"Food we've put on the shelves, or had put on the shelves is generally leaving the shelves within 36 hours of it being there," Trevalyan says.

The founders were inspired by similar fridges in Spain, Germany, and India as well as Somerset and Derbyshire in the UK. But this is the first time the concept has been brought to London.

They know that the fridge will not end the issue of food poverty, but it is one of a number of methods which can be used to combat the problem.

This is as UK welfare benefits have been cut over recent years.

According to the Trussell Trust, that runs food banks across the UK, it distributed more than 519,000 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis from April to September 2016. That's up from about 113,000 such parcels for the same period in 2012.

It says the primary reasons for food bank referral are benefit changes and delays and low incomes, issues some say are at risk further from a potentially weakened UK economy post Brexit.

Now that a general election in the UK has been called for 8 June, uncertainty is rife.

One organisation offering free meals in 34 locations across the country, has already seen greater pressure on its services in recent years.

"About a year and a half ago, a local drop in centre for elderly people closed down. It used to serve a hot meal everyday for people over the age of 50," says Alex Cameron, a volunteer at the charity Food Cycle in London's Marylebone.

"And with the closure of that, lots of people were left without a central place to come and meet. It was really damaging to the community actually,"

Food Cycle aims to relieve food poverty and provide a community for people to be a part of. It takes food surplus donations, primarily from supermarkets, and cooks meals for people to attend.

Since the referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union in June 2016, the country has already seen price rises in imported food products, as the British sterling has fallen in value. Food prices are expected to grow by between 5 percent and 8 percent in 2017, according to the Food and Drink Federation.

Cameron says she has seen an impact already: "Well, I have to admit I've noticed that the price of the butter that we buy goes up.

"So as a charity we're going to have to start spending more on the extra food that we buy to compliment the food that's surplus.

"I also think that it will have a knock-on effect when basic ingredients and foods go up in price. These are the people that are most affected by that."

One analyst says further inflation and economic instability as the Brexit process completes could increase the already record number of people using free food sources.

"I think Brexit is going to have a negative impact on incomes across the whole spectrum, high-income earners and low-income earners. But the difference is that low-income earners have less room for manoeuvre," says Sarah Boumphrey, Director of Economies and Consumers at the market researchers Euromonitor.

The team behind the People's Fridge think that, if their project is successful, they can help others set up community fridges across the UK.

And, although they may not want it, conditions may be right for just that.

London, UK - 12 April 2017

1. Various two employees of the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, delivering cakes to the People's Fridge

2. Can of soup and box of cranberry and walnut cakes in the People's Fridge

3. Tilt down fridge

4. Rack focus of sign on fridge reading (English) "I help cut food waste"

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Cook, Marketing Manager, Ritzy Cinema:

"We heard about it, a staff member had come down and heard about the project and it just seemed like a great idea. Businesses like ours, we waste a lot of food off, to then donate it to people who are in need and help support the community in Brixton, which we are a big part of, is kind of important to us."

6. Pan right of street in Brixton to exterior of Ritzy Cinema

7. Various of people in the Ritzy Cinema bar and cafe eating and drinking

8. Various of person taking food from the People's Fridge

9. Set up shot of Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge:

"Food we've put on the shelves, or we've had put on the shelves is generally leaving the shelves within 36 hours of it being there."

11. Various of onions and greens in the fridge

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge:

"We're seeing lots of donations coming into the fridge, it has been certainly full over the last couple of weeks. In terms of demand for it, and need for food, we know that increasing numbers of people are turning to food banks unfortunately and we know that food banks don't currently offer fresh food. There is therefore a gap for the fridge in providing that fresh source of food, but also being a smart way to deal with food surplus."

13. People walking past fridge

14. Food items in the fridge

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of the People's Fridge:

"There are lots of people who are in work who are receiving an income, but who still can't afford the rising costs of food and who really benefit from such initiatives. Here, from my experience, it certainly feels like there is demand and the demand is rising."

16. Various of people eating at a dinner held by Food Cycle in a church in Marylebone

17. Maggie at the table with other diners

18. Maggie in front of a bowl of food

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Maggie (No last name given), Marylebone resident

"Oh, it helps you a lot really. If you are only on your pension. But yes, very, very good. It's good all round and they're lovely people here."

20. Volunteers preparing food in the kitchen

21. Volunteer Alex Cameron serving diners

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Alex Cameron, volunteer:

"About a year and a half ago, a local drop in centre for elderly people closed down. It used to serve a hot meal everyday for people over the age of 50. And with the closure of that lots of people were left without a central place to come and meet. It was really damaging to the community actually."

23. Volunteer preparing food in the kitchen

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Alex Cameron, volunteer:

"Well, I have to admit I've noticed that the price of the butter that we buy goes up. So as a charity we're going to have to start spending more on the extra food that we buy to compliment the food that's surplus. I also think that it will have a knock-on effect when basic ingredients and foods go up in price, these are the people that are most affected by that."

25. Various of woman eating

26. Set up shot of Sarah Boumphrey, Director, Economies and Consumers for market researchers Euromonitor

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Boumphrey, Director, Economies and Consumers for Euromonitor:

"I think Brexit is going to have a negative impact on incomes across the whole spectrum, high-income earners and low-income earners. But the difference is that low-income earners have less room for manoeuvre. They can't direct their spending elsewhere. They can't save less to help with higher food prices. So they have less of a security net."

28. A diner at Food Cycle

29. An empty bowl

30. Diners at Food Cycle

31. Various of a man taking food from the People's Fridge