Are Americans turning to homegrown wines as tariffs bite?

US wine consumption is falling, but shifting trade policy and pricing pressures are reshaping buying habits. As tariffs disrupt imports, producers and buyers are reassessing the balance between domestic and international bottles. Kathleen Willcox reports.

Wine lovers in the US are less thirsty than ever, but when they do get a hankering for a happier hour, are they more likely to reach for domestic or international wine? That is a question that many in the industry are mulling.

It would be impossible to consider this question without addressing the overfed elephant in the room: how are tariffs changing the way that question gets answered?

President Donald Trump’s approach to imposing tariffs has been notably haphazard. Currently, there is a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on most imports, with a plan to raise that to 15%, following a Supreme Court decision declaring his previous tariffs unconstitutional under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Trump’s eccentric trade policy is costing everyone, from individuals to broad industries, and even the GDP. Economists predict trade policies could reduce the U.S. GDP by 1.8%, with $500 billion in costs being absorbed by consumers annually.

The psychological and practical effect of tariffs

Few in the wine industry are championing the tariffs, with most loudly decrying the effect on an already struggling industry, even for domestic brands. But the tariffs themselves, or perhaps a subtle shift in the American psyche under Trump, do also appear to be having an effect on the way people in the US think about the purchases they make.

And then there is availability. Last year, the US imported $6.22 billion worth of wine, primarily from France, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Australia, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. In comparison, the US exported $850 million worth of wine last year. The omnipresence of top-notch international wines, often offered at a competitive price compared with domestic wines, traditionally made wines from France and Italy fly off the shelves.

While $6.22 billion is impressive, it represents a substantial decline of 8.3% year on year, with most of the decline happening at the end of 2025, when tariff turmoil was once again on the upswing, according to the American Association of Wine Economists. Italy and France registered the most substantial losses from a dollars perspective, dropping by $220 million and $119 million respectively, but the biggest percentage declines were registered by Moldova, Switzerland and Georgia, which were down 63%, 33% and 33% respectively.

About 40% of Americans are aware of where their products were made, with an additional 37% reporting sometimes knowing, according to a survey from Gallup, conducted in May of last year. Republicans are more likely to know, with 43% knowing most or all of the time, compared with 34% of Democrats. Interestingly, while 32% of US adults say it is extremely important to source groceries from the US, only 11% say the same of alcohol.

But is that changing? Some indications point to yes

At fine wine marketing and sales company Wilson Daniels, president Rocco Lombardo says that they are rebalancing their portfolio to reflect more premium domestic selections and return to the founders’ vision.

“When Wilson Daniels was born in 1978, founders Win Wilson and Jack Daniels set out to provide national visibility for premium Napa wineries,” Lombardo says. “Over my 11-year span as president, we have shifted more towards the import model.”

Indeed, Wilson Daniels has found incredible success representing benchmark wineries like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, GAJA and Familia Torres. Now, they are aiming for a rebalance, skewing slightly more towards domestic offerings, which Lombardo believes will better serve the current needs and desires of the US market.

“We are ignoring 70% to 75% of the market by not focusing on domestic wines,” Lombardo says. “And our distribution of Schramsberg and Mirabelle has been incredibly successful. We consistently deplete 90% or more of our cases, and we are eager to explore other family-owned, estate-driven domestic wineries producing wines with the same essence and palate profile as our imports.”

The most recent acquisition for Wilson Daniels is Napa’s Chateau Montelena.

“To me, this encapsulated what we are trying to accomplish,” Lombardo says. “When they won the Judgment of Paris in 1976, they proved to the world what the U.S. is capable of. We want to celebrate and share that.”

David Parker, founder and chief executive of the Napa-based fine wine retailer Benchmark Wine Group, says he has noticed an uptick in interest in fine domestic wine.

“We are seeing a lot of strong interest for U.S. wines right now,” Parker says. “At Premiere Napa Valley 2026, it felt like the old days with a huge interest in Napa wine. I took that, along with recent sales we have seen, as a positive indicator for the strength of the market, especially for wines like Dominus and Opus One, which share characteristics with European wines.”

East Coast vs everyone else

Philip O’Conor, vice president of sales and marketing at Sonoma’s Williams Selyem, says that while “we have always had demand for our wines, the rise in prices in Burgundy and ongoing uncertainty over tariffs has created an opportunity for us, especially among younger, elite sommeliers who may not be as familiar with our wines as older generations, led by people like Larry Stone and Bobby Stuckey.”

However, many note that there is a slight split in enthusiasm for domestic wines in New York City and on the East Coast versus the rest of the country.

“There has been an increase in interest in premium domestic wines on the East Coast, but the biggest increase has been in the Midwest and westward,” Parker says. “Texas in particular.”

Torrey Grant, wine director at New York’s Leonetta, agrees, saying that while their young, urbane client base is “increasingly interested in interesting wines from New York and Texas”, their top seller is still Sauvignon Blanc by the glass from the Loire Valley. The second best is a by-the-glass pour of Pinot Noir from Oregon.

At Sonoma’s Skipstone Wine, winemaker Laura Jones says that they are finding huge opportunities in underloved markets around the country.

“This year we aim to do 50 to 60 private in-home dinners with clients,” Jones says. “And we are also working with other premium California wineries in cities like Tampa, Naples and Oklahoma City on tastings, activations and charity events.”

Jones notes that since beginning intense outreach in secondary markets and working with current clients on events where they have an opportunity to share Skipstone’s wine and story with their friends has had an incredible return on investment in terms of sales and loyalty.

Jeff Mangahas, Williams Selyem’s long-time vintner, says that markets with thriving gastronomic scenes have proven to be sales juggernauts for the Pinot specialist.

“In New York, the influence of Burgundy is still powerful,” Mangahas admits. “But in cities like Atlanta, where there is a young, hip population of people thirsty for engagement with winemakers, the opportunity is enormous. We love visiting cities where people are eager to engage and hear our stories. It brings me back to the winery’s roots, and indeed the wine industry’s roots, where sales are one-on-one, and personal, and you have an amazing conversation with the buyer.”

Plus, Lombardo points out, following Covid, many of these secondary markets became infused with new cash and a new population eager to support the business of fine wine.

“Miami, Austin, Charlotte and Nashville are growing centres for high-end gastronomy,” Lombardo says. “And along with that comes fine wine. We have found these markets are particularly interested in domestic wines.”

Buyers shy away from speculative European buys

For now, Parker says that Benchmark is not sourcing imported wine, except what is already in the country.

“We are doing very little risk buying, and instead just seeking out in-demand European wines that are already in the US market,” Parker says. “Tariff turmoil makes it very hard to run a business. We build out our pricing model ahead of time, and this sort of uncertainty causes instability.”

For restaurant buyers, getting well-priced imports on menus is becoming an increasingly arduous task, even when diners are clamouring for that Sancerre. Grant says that at Leonetta, he has no reason to believe that his Manhattan guests are more eager to drink domestic wines, but he notes that the availability of affordable imports may change that.

“I have absolutely seen prices for imports go up and that affects how we are forced to price the wines,” he says. “In many cases, it is how the tariffs are passed along the supply chain. With the three-tier system, it seems as though they are being passed along at each stage. So instead of being diluted, they are magnified.”

But others say domestic wine, even with tariffs on imports, needs to be priced more competitively to really move.

Daniel Posner, managing partner at retail emporium Grapes The Wine Company in White Plains, says he would love to sell more domestic wines because he knows there is a market for it. But he says compared with imports, even with tariffs, many are not competitive.

“Domestic wines have historically represented 20% of our wine selection, and despite the current tariff environment, moving that needle has proven more difficult than expected,” Posner says. “As imported wine prices climb, we anticipated that domestic producers would seize the moment by making their wines more accessible. Instead, the prevailing strategy has been to hold prices flat. For a customer base that has watched American wine prices rise 200% to 500% over the past 15 to 20 years, flat is not the same as affordable, and that distinction is leaving a real impression on our clients.”

It is too early to say for sure if the desire to support domestic producers, an abiding love for Sancerre, Burgundy price fatigue, Napa price fatigue, excitement among young, urbane drinkers in the Midwest and South or all or none of the above will reshape domestic versus international wine sales in the US this year. But we are watching.