A LEADING fine wine merchant has said that more farmers are investing in expensive wine in an effort to ‘avoid being caught in the treasury’s net’.

Moncharm Wine Traders, a London-based wine seller, says that since the introduction of inheritance tax changes, it has seen a surge in business from farming clients.

The company has suggested that this is a way for farmers to “preserve wealth, pass it on, and avoid being caught in the treasury’s net”.

The organisation, has reportedly seen a 32 per cent increase in business from farming clients since last November, suggesting that this may be because wine can become inheritance-tax free.

A spokesperson for the company said: “The move, dubbed by critics as a “tax raid on the countryside,” has rattled many landowners and family businesses. For some, fine wine has become a tax-efficient way to preserve wealth, pass it on, and avoid being caught in the treasury’s net. Under current rules, investors can add a beneficiary’s name to their wine holdings, achieving joint ownership after seven years, making them inheritance-tax free. Fine wine is also exempt from capital gains tax.

“Over the past 15 years, Moncharm has completed 15,400 transactions and managed 21,275 bottles on behalf of farmers, private clients, consumers, and collectors. Moncharm says the demand for tangible, low-volatility, tax-efficient assets is only going to grow as the government ramps up fiscal pressure on wealth.”

Matthew Knight, head of private clients at Moncharm Wine Traders, added: “Farmers are worried — and rightly so. These tax changes make it harder for them to pass on what they’ve worked a lifetime to build. Tangible assets like fine wine offer a proven, discreet and long-term way of protecting wealth from the Chancellor’s reach. It’s no surprise we’ve seen such a surge in interest.”