Wine connoisseurs freeze purchases over Trump’s 200% tariff risk
Wine enthusiast Steven Nordhoff typically spends about $25,000 a year adding to his 2,500-bottle collection, with Bruno Giacosa reds from Italy or Vilmart champagnes from France. But not now.
President Donald Trump’s threat to slap 200% tariffs on European wines and spirits has the Southern California family law attorney pausing his purchases from abroad.
“I have enough,” Nordhoff said. “So if somebody said it’s a 200% tariff, I guess I’m laying off those for a while. I’ll drink what we have.”
It’s just one example of the uncertainty swirling around wine collectors and importers in the wake of the proposed tariffs, part of Trump’s burgeoning trade dispute with the European Union. Should the tariffs be enacted, they could make prized European bottles prohibitively expensive — possibly wiping them off store shelves altogether.
For some, the tariff threat is so significant that it has prompted more drastic action. Guy Willings, founder of French wine wholesaler L’Assemblage, said about half his American clients are asking to warehouse their purchases in his London cellars until calmer times, with some estimating that won’t occur until Trump leaves office. He’s offering his best customers a discount to his usual rate to store and insure their cases.
New York-based importer Michael Foulk is pausing all his wine shipments from EU countries until there is certainty over if and when the tariffs will hit. European bottles amount to 90% of his company’s $5 million in annual sales. He has a month or two of inventory to cushion him while he waits to see what will happen.
“If these tariffs are implemented even for a day, and I have the unfortunate luck of having any of those orders hit customers while the tariffs are in place, those wines are unsellable,” he said.
Some are going ahead with purchases, but only if they’re certain of when the wine will arrive. Rob Arnott, founder of investment adviser Research Affiliates, went through with an $18,000 order after his wholesaler assured him the wines would be delivered before April 2, the date Trump said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners. Arnott reasoned that Trump wouldn’t likely impose the wine tariffs before then. His wine arrived this week.
“I don’t want to spend $60,000,” he said.
For many in the business, memories remain fresh from the last time Trump slapped duties on wines from several European countries, in 2019. Even at 25%, the tariffs disrupted supply chains, making some varieties prohibitively expensive or unavailable. The tariffs were lifted after more than a year and a half.
This time, the mere threat of tariffs has businesses and individual buyers changing strategies. L’abeille, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Tribeca, is moving from just-in-time purchasing for its wine list to full-scale stockpiling. Instead of buying a few cases at a time of its signature offering of Bourgogne blanc by the glass, Pamela Walton, beverage director for L’abeille’s restaurant group, said she’s committing to a year’s supply — 12,000 bottles of the wine across the group’s three restaurants.
Villa Berulia, a family-owned Italian and Croatian restaurant in Manhattan, will stock up on the European imports that comprise 90% of its wine list. “We have a sizable basement where we can store wine,” co-owner Steve Varela said.
Some connoisseurs buy futures for EU wines before they’re bottled, but the current environment makes that risky. Todd French, creator of the WineBerserkers online forum, planned to purchase futures of 2022 Bordeaux labels for his 600-bottle cellar. They would have provided him with a few bottles each of Château Canon, Château Figeac, and Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion — for about $80 to $100 apiece. But he’s decided against it.
“Why would you commit yourself to a price that could be variable, when you can just wait it out?” he said.
Even as many collectors pause purchases, some U.S. customers are seeking pre-tariff deals on bottles already on store shelves.
Jake Jacobs, owner of Carolina Wine Merchants in Sanford, North Carolina, said he was swamped by people stocking up. He’s mentioned the potential tariffs in his email marketing list, and customers responded. One man placed a 15-case order for French, Italian and Spanish wines, like Franciacorta and Langhe Rosso.
“I’m using the threat of tariffs,” Jacobs said. “And it’s kind of working.”