“A lot of people don’t want to talk about this because this has become such a politicized issue,” the winemaker says.
LOS ANGELES – Some California’s wine industry is optimistic when they amide the cry surrounding President Donald Trump’s whirlwind tariff announcement last week.
Stuart Spencer, winemaker and executive director of the state’s Central Valley-based Roddy Wine Grape Commission, said recent media coverage focused primarily on the perspectives of restaurants and retailers who rely on imports, and on the perspectives of producers and winemakers.
“I think for many California vineyards, many of them feel that (the tariffs) are cooperative and that they need to level the arena,” Spencer said. “Because they don’t compete on equal arenas.”
The pandemic in Central Valley, where around two-thirds of the state’s total production is produced, has been particularly challenging, with small family-owned businesses.
Jeff Bitter, a fourth-generation farmer and president of Arid Grape Growers, a Fresno-based industry organization, said grape growers and winemakers are tired of hearing how bad the tariffs are.
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“In the wine industry, they’re not bad on the whole, especially in terms of production, for everyone involved. If you’re a California grape grower or winemaker who doesn’t import, tariffs aren’t bad for you. They’re totally fine,” Bitter said.
Recent media reports from the California wine industry have highlighted concerns about Trump’s threat of imposing a 200% tariff on all wine, champagne and alcoholic products from the European Union.
Since the war began, Spencer said California wine orders may have been put on hold in the export market, but imports may have also been put on hold.
“We’ve heard from producers and wineries that there’s an increase in national orders,” he said that his own family’s winery, St. Amant Winery, saw an intriguing and surprising rise.
“We are doing business in a national chain. The day after the 200% tariff was announced, they contacted us about our brand. We had not received an order in six months and we have received three orders in the last three weeks.”
The French wine bottle will be on display at Ludwig’s fine wines and spirits in San Anselmo, California on March 13th, 2025. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Spencer points out that 80% of the state’s wine grapes are grown by small, independent family farms that cannot compete with the large subsidies the European Union provides to the wine sector.
“It creates a very insufficient playing field and continues to maintain a lot of supply in the market that should probably be removed to allow the market to fix itself,” he said.
“This had a major impact on the health of the farming community in the valley here,” Spencer said. “We can see thousands of acres that have not been pruned or harvested last fall, and a new growth period has begun, and these vineyards are off. They’ll either be pulled or just abandoned.”
California producers also compete in high production costs and strict regulatory environments.
“In California, production costs are probably the highest in the world in terms of grape production and wine production. And it has to do with our regulatory environment – the environmental standards we adhere to, wage and time standards, and the care of our employees,” Bitter said.
He said that farmers have not complained about these high standards, but cannot compete with dirty cheap competitions that do not adhere to the same.
Both Spencer and Bitter suggest a more subtle approach than Trump’s 200% proposal is appropriate. It also suggests measures such as government support in the form of marketing and promotions, and farmers to comply with regulatory requirements.
“We spend all this money on making wine in a certain way that is good for consumers, good for employees, good for the environment and good for the state’s economic situation,” Bitter said.
“How disadvantageous are we at a cost basis? Where do we need to adjust import costs to level the arena?”
Growers may be optimistic about tariffs, but not everyone wants to say that much.
“A lot of people don’t want to talk about this because half of the country doesn’t like it because it becomes such a politicized issue and whether it makes sense or not,” Spencer said.
Bitter said he would be reluctant to ride the bad side of a large distributor who dominates the market and buys both California grapes and imported wines.
California producers struggling with the global wine recession say they are facing a range of competitive market distortions and trade barriers.
Tariffs don’t solve all the problems, but after years of bad headlines, you can get a glimpse of hope.
Spencer suggests that American restaurants and retailers who rely entirely on imports can pivot into California and other American wines.
“There will be winners and losers in this,” he said. “This could be a victory for California vineyards.”
