Earlier this month and just one month after Trump unveiled his liberation day tariffs, California Wines completed its first ever Australian trade tour, complete with stops in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
According to the industry body, the tour was a resounding success and “exceeded initial expectations” even as Australian consumer sentiment towards other US liquor categories has plumetted. More than 420 trade professionals attended across the three days.
Speaking with Drinks Trade after hosting the final masterclass in Sydney, wine writer and author Elaine Chukan Brown said that “interest has been much stronger than I expected. The truth is, if you’d asked me ten years ago, I would have said that Australia doesn’t need California wine, but today, what’s changed is there’s a greater interest in it … In the last four or so years, California wine has significantly expanded here.”
However, Elaine Chukan Brown, who’s first paperback book The Wines of California has just launched globally, expects that tariffs will likely have some repercussions on both California wine imports into Australia and Australian wine imports into the US.
“On both sides, there’s a lot of unknowns right now about the tariffs, because it’s clear that announcements have been made and then changes have been made to those. I think that’s the thing to keep in mind: that we’re in this weirdly vulnerable time simply because we don’t know what to predict.”
Chukan Brown continues: “There’s obvious challenges: you know, the cost of importing the wine [with] the tariffs, but then also things change significantly depending on if there’s parity or not between US and Australian dollars – and so the challenges are absolutely there, but I think the interest is also there, and especially for wines from California that are really differentiated from styles you find here.”
Interestingly, US interest in Australian wine has piqued in a similar way and over a similar timeline, explains Chukan Brown. “For the last 15 or so years in the United States, but in California particularly, there’s been an increase in curiosity for wines from Australia and other of the less known [wine regions] historically … They tend to be less expensive as well though, and people are discovering finally that there’s really fantastic, interesting wines there.”
However, Chukan Brown flags several distinct layers to this evolution of perception. First, as US trade and consumer knowledge continues to improve, premium Australian wine is becoming more accepted. Second, the ongoing cost of living pressures currently being exacerbated by Trump’s import tariffs are heightening demand for value-oriented Australian wine options.
In other words, despite ongoing declines for Australian wine exports into the US, Chukan Brown believes that US consumers are now welcoming a broader diversity of Australian wine styles and price points.
“Australia previously suffered from the obvious problem of high volume, big body wines were what was primarily coming into the United States, and so it created this situation where people in the US thought they knew what Australian wine was … but since then there’s been a number of importers to the US that have just worked really hard on getting really awesome Australian wines in front of people,” she said.
“Now, there’s this understanding, at least from the wine trade, that there’s really cool stuff happening here, and that we can learn from what’s happening here too.”
In 2023, Australia had a 10.3 per cent share of all US wine imports, according to IWSR data as sourced through Wine Australia’s current Market Explorer dashboard. For commercial imports, this share increases to 17.1 per cent. Meanwhile, for premium imports, it drops to 5 per cent.
However, in the 12 months up to March of this year, Australian wine exports to the US declined 17 per cent by volume, marking a continuation of the ongoing five-year downward trend that has seen a 4.8 per cent decline in volumes and 5 per cent in value.
Commenting on Trump’s tariffs specifically, Elaine Chukan Brown believes they are more likely to act in favour of Australia’s commercial imports: “The tariffs happening in the States definitely are creating an impact on the economy … because they’re being applied to what we import because of need in the United States, so our prices are significantly going up.”
Broadly speaking, Elaine Chukan Brown’s views reflect those of Taylors Wines’ Mitchell Taylor, who Drinks Trade interviewed shortly after Trump’s liberation day tariffs were first announced.
When it comes to Australian consumer sentiment towards US wines, California Wines says its recent Australian Trade Tour was launched with a similar goal of increasing trade awareness to the diversity of the region.
“To enhance California wine’s potential in the Australian market, our priority is to solidify relationships with our distribution partners and their customers, as well as highlight new varietals the industry may have not yet had the privilege to sample,” said Hiro Tejima, Joint Regional Director for North Asia and Australasia.
“This tour has taken us a big step forward, sharing the diversity and innovation of California wines, and most importantly, bringing our local industry peers together to connect, learn, and rediscover the Golden State.”
Fifteen US producers and Australian importers partnered with the regional body to host the three capital city events, including West Coast Wines and QED Wines.
“It was a great opportunity to meet, show and share our Premium Californian wine portfolio to a greater wine audience – including some of Australia’s most influential wine buyers, restaurateurs, high end retail, writers and influencers on the east coast,” said David Schomburg, owner of West Coast Wines.
Matthew Quirk, Proprietor of QED wines, added: “As the importer of Rhone Varietal Wines with Tablas Creek, it was great to have the support of the Californian Wine Institute to highlight the unique story and the high quality of their wines. I look forward to supporting the event every year, because California is more than just Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernets.”
The other participating producers and importers include Bacchus Wine Merchants, Bibendum Wine Co., Clarity Cru, Cru, Domaine Wine Shippers, Fine Wine & Craft Spirits by Constellation Brands, Jackson Family Wines, Oatley, The Duckhorn Portfolio, Saint Wine, Vintage House Wines, Young & Rashleigh and Delicato.
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