Bay Area wineries try to keep prices competitive amid U.S. tariffs

By Amanda Hari

In recent years, people’s habits have shifted away from drinking, and now the Trump administration’s tariffs on wine are another hit.

Joe Arias just opened Frenchie Wine Bar in Dolores Heights five months ago, during a tumultuous time for the wine industry. But he’s doing what he can as tariffs drive prices up.

“It’s a great champagne,” Arias said, pointing to one of the shelves. “It has a great price for champagne.”

Arias is trying to keep prices competitive and give his customers the best bang for their buck.

The recent uncertainty has made things more difficult, especially for a new small business.

“With tariffs, you don’t know exactly what will be the increase of pricing from when you order wine, maybe a month before and the month after,” said Arias, explaining how the prices are constantly fluctuating.

Previously, the U.S. imposed hefty tariffs on imported wines, driving up prices and hurting exports.

Then the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some of those tariffs, saying President Trump overstepped. Now the administration is trying to put new tariffs in place through other routes.

“In the end, that means tariffs are really taxes on American consumers,” said Peter Andrews.

Andrews is the founder of Culture Wine Co., they specialize in and distribute South African wine, an area that was hit by some of the highest tariffs, 30%.

“Thirty percent is not a number I can absorb, it’s not a number I can ask my suppliers or my wineries to observe, and it’s certainly not a number consumers can absorb,” said Andrews. “So everyone has to make a sacrifice there.”

He says every part of the supply chain is hurting financially.

Wineries are feeling it in a variety of ways. Jamie Kutch owns Kutch Wines in Sonoma County. For two decades, his company continued to grow year after year, shipping his American wine to other countries, but recently, tariffs have changed that.

“We’re seeing a big pushback of purchasing on American wines,” Kutch explained. “I think a lot of the rhetoric coming out of the administration has caused challenges to some great partners that we’ve had for almost two decades. Between Denmark and Sweden, we’ve seen an evaporation of almost 30% of our goods being rejected and not being purchased.”

Kutch is worried. If this continues for another three years, he’s not sure if his winery will be able to weather the storm.

Back at Frenchie Wine Bar, Arias is continuing to diversify, offering foreign wines, American wines, and even some small plates. It’s all in an attempt to build up a defense against the constant changes.

“There is always a bit of concerns, but I think we are going to do the right thing to bring good wines to the people who come to our wine bar,” Arias stated.