Australia has a tolerance of 1.5% for the ABV in its wines. This feels high, especially for a country famed for its punchy shiraz. A 14.5% bottle could be as high as 16%; nudging fortified wine territory. While the EU requires a tighter 0.8% tolerance for imports, it is unlikely that checks are ever made and therefore the labels proclaiming 14.5%, which should read 15.2%, are probably left in place. The UK’s requirement for spirits is 0.3%, though in fairness, it is easier to measure the ABV of spirits than liquids with lots of other sugars in them.
As an aside, the global leader in making the little bobbing density gauges (hydrometers) we use to find out our ABV is Stevenson Reeves, a small company based on the south side of Edinburgh.