Australian wine industry slams British price rise

Australia's wine industry says the UK's proposal to push up alcohol prices is a poor solution to binge drinking.

To curb alcohol abuse, England's chief medical officer wants to increase prices, in line with the Scottish Government's plans to stop alcohol discounting, and charge at least 50 pence ($A1.05) for each unit of alcohol in a drink.

It would lift the mimimum cost of win to $A10 a bottle.

Australia is the biggest wine exporter to the UK.

Stephen Strachan, from the Wine Makers Federation of Australia, says the proposal won't work.

"The reality is that wine and other alcohol is most often consumed in moderation, so what they are doing is penalising those that consume appropriately for the problems of a select few," he says.

"If they come out and simply look at tax increases or warning labels, then they are really band-aid measures and they aren't going to solve the problem."