Tag Archives: Trump wine tariff

High-alcohol, unpleasant wines: The Trump tariff legacy

Trump tariff wine
“Oh no — more of that horrible Trump tariff wine.”

Some European producers boosted alcohol to get around the Trump tariff, and their wines suffered badly

The Trump wine tariff taxed British, German, French, and Spanish wines an additional 25 percent. The exception, save for sparkling wines, were wines from those countries with more than 14 percent alcohol.

Not surprisingly, many producers made wines with 14 percent alcohol from the 2019 and 2020 harvests to get around the tariff – even if the wine was a white, rose, or a light red that didn’t normally contain that much. Much of the time, the extra alcohol didn’t make too much difference, given the way alcohol levels are measured. The label could say 14.5 percent, for example, but have as little as 14 percent – or even less, allowing for winking and nudging. The 2016 El Coto Crianza, which would have been released around the time of the tariff in October 2019, lists 14.5 percent alcohol. But it remains a classic Rioja wine – spicy, fresh, and with just the right heft.

Some wines, though, were ruined by the extra alcohol. It turned a fresh, crisp and enjoyable wine into something heavy, bloated, and almost undrinkable. These wines, sadly, included some of my favorites.

I list four of them to let you know what to watch for, and not to call out the producers and their importers. As a friend, who had tasted several of these said with a sigh, “They had payrolls to meet, and the extra 25 percent meant they might not be able to do that. So they did what they had to do.”

• Kermit Lynch’s Domaine Dupeuble Beaujolais ($18) is one of the great values in the wine world – an amazing French red that is always in short supply in Dallas. But the 2019 is 14.5 percent and tasted it. There was no Beaujolais character at all, just a hot and annoying wine that was missing most of its fruit. I had bought two bottles, without thinking to check the alcohol level. Oops.

• The 2019 Eguren Ugarte Rioja ($10). Remember what I wrote about the El Coto? This was just the opposite, and went down the drain. Sadly, several other Spanish reds were equally as dreadful and suffered the same fate.

• The 2019 Henry Fessy Beaujolais-Villages Vieille Vignes ($12): This, too, was 14.5 percent, and was even more out of whack than the Dupeuble. And Fessy is almost as dependable a French producer; the 2019 Gamay Noir was 13.5 percent and delightful — wine of the week quality.

• The 2019 Cote Mas Sauvignon Blanc Vermentino ($10/1 liter). France’s various Mas wines are almost always well-made and consistent, offering tremendous value. This one wasn’t. Directly from my notes: “14.2 percent. One of the worst professional wines I’ve ever tasted. It’s hot, devoid of any varietal character, not especially ripe, and bitter and tannic.”

Update: Wine prices 2021 – the Trump wine tariff is finally dead

chianti producers
“A toast — no more Trump wine tariff!”

Will the end of the Trump tariff lead to lower wine prices?

This is the first of two parts updating my wine prices in 2021 post. Today, Part I: What does the end of the Trump wine tariff mean for prices? Part II: The pandemic, wine prices, and the law of supply and demand.

It took the Biden Administration just five months to undo four years of suicidal Trump economic policy, announcing this week that it would end tariffs on European wine, cheese, and spirits. The settlement means an end to decades of wrangling over illegal aircraft subsidies, the impetus for the tariffs.

All of this is terrific news. It would be even more terrific if it meant wine prices, forced higher by the 25 percent tariff on German, Spanish, and French wines, would retreat. My sense, after several days of reporting? We’ll see some prices come down, but we won’t see as many drop as we’d like.

There are a variety of reasons for this:

• Producers, and especially those making wine costing less than $15, tried not to raise prices (or did so minimally) because of the tariff. If they raised prices by the full amount, they were afraid they would lose market share. Hence, there’s not much to give back with the end of the tariff. So wines like the La Vieille Ferme rose, which stayed at $8 or so during the tariff, will still be $8.

• Much of the savings will come from more expensive wines, and especially the highest priced; Champagne, for example, was badly hurt by the tariff. They should drop by most of the 25 percent, and I’ve already seen some evidence of this. One national New York retailer is advertising “up to 25 percent cheaper” on six wines, all costing $20 or more because of the tariff.

• The pandemic’s supply chain tribulations will also slow price reductions. If the wines can’t get here, or cost that much more to ship, we won’t see savings until all is straightened out.

• Bad judgment and premiumization will play their role in keeping prices higher. When this mess started in October 2019, a very smart Italian wine importer told me the tariff was an opportunity for producers – and especially Italian producers, not subject to the tariff – to take market share away from the French and Spanish by holding the line on prices. Sadly, that hasn’t happened the way he thought. I got an email the other day for a $15 Italian chardonnay, which is hardly the way to gain market share during all of this.