Amid the chaos of the past five months, there are some things that have become clear about the UK wine market: the obvious, instant and severe impact from the enforced closure of the on-trade; the spike in sales through retail and online; the worry that the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will cause a deep and prolonged recession that will damage the market still further. 

The UK Covid-19 Impact Report from Wine Intelligence, published in May and the result of an online survey in the first half of April, confirms that general analysis. But it adds some extra layers of detail and insight about consumer behaviour during lockdown — and what might happen as restrictions are slowly lifted.