The threat of 200% tariffs on wine starting on April 2nd has been stockpiled by some Oenofiles as suppliers and importers warn of delays and possible shortages.
“Everyone wants to stock up. 'We're watching The Tariffs 'Shopping',” the co-founder of Josh Cohen told me.
For the past few days, patrons who usually stop by to pick up a few bottles at a time have come to order European wine. Earlier this week, one customer will buy 120 bottles of champagne.
“We encourage people to go out there and stack up.” Interest in expensive French Burgundy is off the charts. Italian wines like Barolo and Barbaresco are running nearby, Cohen added.
Earlier this month, President Trump threatened to collect massive tariffs on European alcohol after the EU announced plans to impose a 50% tariff on American whiskey. Yesterday, the EU announced plans to delay proposed tariffs, but President Trump has not yet responded.
The US Wine Trade Union, which represents all classes against US wine trade tariffs, advises all companies to halt the transport of alcoholic cargo from Europe as “the current risk of tariffs is too high.”
Some wine enthusiasts with thousands of bottles view this as an ideal opportunity to reduce their holdings. And they reach out to wine dealers to see if they can unstock them when it's hot. “Everyone on the bystanders is jumping in,” Cohen said.
Many wine lovers are skeptical, but tariffs actually go into effect, while International Wine Centre CEO Mary Ewing Mulligan admits the worst-case scenario, which damages the industry, but has one silver lining.
The “classic” from Italy and France are more challenging and much more expensive to find, but “between California, Australia and South America, you won't run out of wine.”
And it might actually expand the palate of some casual drinkers, she added, as people “start to transfer to other wines.”
