āTariffs would only affect imported wine. Iāll just buy American.ā
WRONG!
American wine depends on global parts:
Cork ā Portugal
Barrels ā France
Machinery ā Italy
Bottles ā China
You canāt untangle a system like that overnight.š§µ
Cork comes from cork oak trees.
Over 80% of it is harvested in Portugal and Spain.
There are no commercial cork forests in the U.S.
Even if you planted one tomorrow, youād be waiting 25+ years before it could be harvested.
Barrels are a winemakerās spice rack.
French oak: tight grain, adds structure and spice
American oak: broader grain, gives sweetness and coconut
Hungarian oak: earthier, more restrained
You canāt just swap one for anotherā
and even if you wanted to, the trees theyāre made from take 80ā120 years to grow.
Most winemaking equipment comes from Europeāespecially Italy.
Presses, bottling lines, destemmersātools perfected over generations of winemakers.
You could build more factories here.
But the highest-quality tools will still be made abroad.
By 2018, China was producing around 75% of the bottles used in American wine.
Glass is heavy, energy-intensive, and slow to scale.
China had the capacity. The U.S. relied on it.
Then 25% tariffs hit.
Chinese bottle imports dropped 55% in a year.
The U.S. never recovered full capacity.
Most bottles now come from O-I and Ardagh, but lead times are long and prices are up.
Tariffs are set to rise again in 2025.
Capacity is still being built outāseven years after the first shock.
You can grow the grapes here.
You can ferment them here.
But if you want to bottle that wine,
youāll need cork from Portugal,
glass from China,
and barrels from trees planted in another century.
Thatās the global backbone of American wine.
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