But it’s more than aging – it is (or was) shipped back and forth across the equator to massively oxidize it. The lawyer in me is fully ready to make this argument.
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Is it the responsibility of the company that ships the product to the US to declare country of origin as well as value?
Is cheating by falsifying country of origin an issue? I would think not for large companies doing significant international business, but maybe for little guys that think they can fly under the radar? Are they likely to get caught?
There’s only a couple casks that have undergone this in the past 50 years or so, and none have ever been for sale. And also, the majority of their aging was done back in Madeira after they landed back.
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The paperwork presented to customs must accurately declare value, country of origin, and many other things. Sometimes the shipping company does it, and sometimes the customs processing is handled by a Customs Broker that is separate from the shipper. Companies are responsible for the work done by the shippers and brokers they hire, so they keep an eye on them.
Anyway, the penalties for false declaration can be pretty severe, including forfeiture of the goods, severe fines, and loss of import privileges.
I haven’t looked at the data on Customs catching bad actors in a while, but I know it happens, though as a % of overall goods imported it’s been pretty small. Of course millions upon millions of goods get imported.
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Lots of scrambling going on by those who who offered futures but have not delivered on orders yet. One of my futures sources told me they paused (!) consolidating shipments temporarily when tariffs were announced. A head shaker, for sure. Another of my futures sources said my 2021s should arrive in May, but could not confirm it.
Not very reassuring.
And, here we go from Total Wine
Hello,
We’re reaching out with an important update regarding your recent Bordeaux Futures order.
Despite our best efforts—including using air freight—the shipment did not clear Customs before the April 5 tariff deadline. As a result, a 10% tariff now applies to your order. These wines have arrived and are ready to ship to your local Total Wine store once the tariff is paid.
Please see the updated pricing details below:
| Product | Size | Qty | Price | Total | Tariff per bottle | New Price | New Total | Tariff Owed before Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Beau-Sejour Becot | Bottle Size: 1.5 L | 1 | $189.97 | $189.97 | $13.00 | $202.97 | $202.97 | $13.00 |
| 2022 Lafite Rothschild | Bottle Size: 750 ml | 2 | $769.97 | $1,539.94 | $66.12 | $836.09 | $1,672.18 | $132.24 |
| $145.24 |
We understand this may be disappointing, so we’re offering full flexibility:
If you’d like to receive your wine, we’ll ship it to your local Total Wine store once we receive confirmation and the outstanding tariff payment.
If you prefer to cancel, we’ll issue a full refund—no hassle, no penalty.
Please note: You may have additional 2022 Bordeaux Futures on order that have not yet arrived. At this time, we do not know what tariff rate—if any—will apply to those future arrivals. Due to the evolving nature of these tariffs, we are only communicating tariff charges on wines that have already arrived and cleared Customs.
If we do not hear from you by May 16, 2025, we will proceed with charging the outstanding amount and preparing your wine for shipment.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We truly appreciate your continued support.
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I guess they couldn’t get stuff in within the 30 day window that was provided. No shock, as there was a massive rush to get good in during March and early April.
Ah, but does US customs know that techniques have changed over the last century? 
Based on what David B said, I was focusing on an argument that the oxidation was a transformation and that did not take place on Madeira. He said that aging alone won’t qualify as a transformation for purposes of locating the country of origin.
But I think you may have taken my playful suggestion too seriously.
I’ve had some great still wines from the UK. It’s going to take a little while to convince markets, but I think they have a good future ahead of them. The soil in many places are ideal for growing certain varieties.
It says 10% tariffs but figures to not add up. Is it because tariffs applied to the cost that TW buys wine for?
Tariffs are based on the value of the goods as imported.
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So Lafite Rothschild was imported at $661.20. Is it the price it was sold by producer or there are more parties between producer and importer?
The tariffs are based on the value of the goods as imported. So if the winery sold them to the importer for $500/bottle, the tariff is $50.
Not sure. Total Wine likes to cut out the middle people but BDX has its own nuances of distribution. But $661.20 was the declared price by the importer, whoever that was. There would be a commercial invoice to back that up
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This actually brings up a very interesting angle. That Total Wine, and plenty of other players, probably do not want to be so public with their costs. The tariff issue makes this extremely uncomfortable for them and is probably causing some knotted stomachs in figuring out how to pay the tariffs so they don’t get in trouble with the Feds while not revealing their costs to their clientele. They, and the rest, are likely working hard how to get the fog of war right so they fudge as much as possible publicly while keeping the Feds happy.
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The Feds are very exacting. There’s no fog on tariffs.
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Best thing they can do is keep the wine in Europe until they can bring them over tariff free or vastly reduced from the current fee
And when will that be? 
Storage is not free. It will quickly exceed the 10%
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That’s what I was saying. They obviously want to keep clients in the dark on “fees”, etc but they cannot with the Feds. Playing both sides of that is tricky and is probably giving them fits.