Buckfast monks rake in nearly £9MILLION as tonic wine sales hit record high

MONKS who make controversial Buckfast tonic wine raked in a record £8.8m in a year.

Sales of the caffeine-fuelled wine that’s a smash hit with Scots has raked in huge sums for its makers at Buckfast Abbey, Devon – with most of the income to its charitable trust.

Figures from the Charity Commission showed Buckfast Abbey Trust’s income was £8.8m in 2014-15, the latest year for which figures are available.

The caffeinated wine, sometimes known as Bucky, has been made at the Benedictine abbey since the 1920s.

The abbey trust is a shareholder in the wine’s distributor and seller, J Chandler, based in Hampshire, and gets a royalty fee for every bottle sold.

The monks have invested millions of pounds in the restoration of the abbey and visitor facilities and have also earmarked £3m for updating its 33-bedroom hotel and its conference centre.

The abbey declined to give figures for income directly from wine sales, saying it was commercially sensitive and said the hotel and conference centre also contributed to the increase in income.

The huge sum comes days after a sheriff claimed there was a definite association between Buckfast and violence.

The abbey said it was saddened by the judge’s opinion that a “small number of people in Scotland are not enjoying Buckfast in a responsible way”.

It also said the trust “strives to work with J Chandler and Co to ensure that the tonic wine is marketed and distributed responsibly”.

“The majority of people who drink the tonic wine do so responsibly.”

The abbey added that it supported charities such as Drinkaware.

Last week Dundee Sheriff Court was told how a teenager downed two-and-a-half bottles of the caffeinated tonic wine before battering another lad.

Sheriff Alastair Brown told the court: “Someone who drinks two-and-a-half bottles of Buckfast is drinking something which is often seen as a feature of cases involving violence.

“I’m aware that the monks of Buckfast Abbey advertise this as something to be taken in moderation.

“The fact is that some people drink far too much of it and get violent.”

Between 2010 and 2012, Strathclyde Police said Buckfast was mentioned in almost 6,500 crime reports.

Alcohol Focus Scotland, the national charity on preventing alcohol-related harm, said consumption of Buckfast was “very small” compared with overall alcohol consumption in Scotland.

But Alison Douglas, Chief Executive, said there was “increasing international evidence about the specific risks associated with caffeinated alcoholic drinks.

“We know from police figures that Buckfast is mentioned in thousands of anti-social behaviour and crime reports in certain parts of the country.”

Police declined to comment further.

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