No real inside or personal knowledge, but my impression from all I’ve read is that the tariffs help US wine industry participants who are in the mass-market stream of commerce, from growers to wineries to distributors, and hurt pretty much all of the other participants, including growers, wineries, distributors, retailers, and restaurants.
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It does have a bit of the feel of being fed some talking/lobbying points.
Also - “gift link” https://wapo.st/3VgVcsg for anyone who is paywalled above.
Here’s the one “money” quote:
We do about 65 percent of our sales in [European Union] wines, but they provide an outsize gross profit for our business: 75 percent.
That’s not exactly “outsize” - yes, it sounds like they have a somewhat larger profit margin on that distribution, which could be a result of many different things. My guess is that some of the large US producers/conglomerates negotiate very favorable distribution rates that pushes down the average profit for US distribution.
Cork still has not shown up on the exemption list, unless there has been an update since last week.
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One alliance against tariffs
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/business/trump-tariffs-scotch-whisky-bourbon.html
Anyone’s BDX 22’ orders from WDC hit yet? Wondering if they are passing on tariffs or eating them. They should be shipping in the next month.
Most of my WDC '22s arrived in the Spring and made it in before the tariffs kicked in, but several did not. None of the latter have arrived at this point.
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Just got the dreaded e-mail from Total Wine Concierge
"Dear Concierge Member,
Thank you for securing your allocation of the 2023 Bordeaux Futures. The first white wines have begun arriving, with most reds expected in early 2026. To ensure the smoothest flow of wine to your preferred store, it is now time to complete the second 50% payment on your order.
As part of this payment, we are required to pass through the current 15% U.S. tariff on imported Bordeaux wines. This tariff is applied to the cost of the wine (not the final price you paid), and we do not add any margin—this is a direct pass-through.
Once payment is processed, your wines will be queued for fulfillment and delivered to your designated store as they arrive. You’ll receive a “Ready for Pickup” email notification when each portion of your order is available.
No action is required on your part. Beginning September 22nd, the card associated with your order will be charged for the remaining balance and tariff. If you prefer, you may cancel hassle-free at any time through your account page or by contacting us directly. "
I’m really contemplating on keeping this order as an additional 15% added to the price of each wine is significant enough for me to cancel it
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The tariff isn’t an additional 15% of the price you paid for the wine, it is 15% of the price paid by the importer for the wine, so the increase to your price would be more like 5-10%. That may still be more than you are willing to pay, but you should make the decision based on correct information and not what appears to be a misunderstanding.
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So a quick update…It is based on the actual cost that TWC paid so you are correct. However it probably would have been good if they pulled out what their actual cost first are so they can actually give customers an accurate number on how this effects their purchase. The reps answer to me was " Yes it will be based off our cost however we didn’t pull that info yet we just sent the email to all of our customers first and we’ll tell you later what the impact will be. So needless to say he told me they are getting slammed with calls from customers this am
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Waiting for the WDC email about tariffs when the 22s are ready to ship. Haven’t seen anything yet. Also have a case of Standish from Australia I’m waiting to take delivery on that I’m sure will get a nice tariff attached to it.
I auctioned off some wine earlier this year expecting strong prices as they are tariff free. It didn’t happen, but I suspect now that the threat has become real we will see existing stocks in the US beginning to be mopped up. I saw recently some higher prices at auction, so I think it’s begun.
It’s not fun showing customers the total margin added upon the cost of a product.
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Thankfully most people are deficient in basic math so it should have a negligible effect.
Let me know when you worked it out, my son (in the British sense of using the phrase).
Same here. Not sure what I’m going to do yet. '23’s were attractively priced but much less so at +15%
If the price to the importers increases 15% because of the tariff, to keep their profit margin, the importers would have to increase their price by 15% and not merely the absolute dollar amount of the increase. Different importers, of course, will have different policies for how much of the tariff they pass on and how much they eat, but that will depend on the market, just as the original profit margin does. The relevant discipline here is, as always, microeconomics and not math (or maths as the case may be).
While preservation of margin may apply in some cases, it doesn’t apply to the original poster’s situation. The original post states that “As part of this payment, we are required to pass through the current 15% U.S. tariff on imported Bordeaux wines. This tariff is applied to the cost of the wine (not the final price you paid), and we do not add any margin—this is a direct pass-through.”
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Agreed I was finally able to pry out the info from them and they told me the tariffs will add an additional $263 to my final total and that is spread across 13 750’s and 1 mag…All in I don’t think that’ll make me pull back my order but definitely would like to not have to pay this additional at all.
So what percentage of your order amount does it come out to be?
I have decided to eat the tariffs. I am far from rich and 15% is not nothing but with the amount I buy/drink it’s not going to have an impact on my life style. Most wines I buy are in $40-$100 price range.
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