By Stacy Meichtry and Nick Kostov
With rolling vineyards and a chief winemaker from France’s Champagne region, the Domaine Chandon has all the hallmarks of a French wine estate with one exception: It is located in Napa Valley.
The question facing its owner, French luxury titan Bernard Arnault, is whether U.S. properties like Domaine Chandon will ultimately have the appeal and scale to soak up the billions of dollars in sales at risk from President Trump’s threat of a 200% tariff on wine and spirits imported from Europe.
Trump’s tariff threat strikes at the heart of a business model that has defined European winemaking for generations. Wineries in France and Italy have long pushed the idea that a wine’s quality and character is inextricably tied to the soil, climate and heritage of winemaking regions such as Bordeaux and Tuscany.
These appellations, European winemakers say, justify prices that are typically higher than wines made in the U.S. Within the European Union, they are also protected by law—meaning Champagne can come only from its namesake region.
Bending to pressure from Trump to move production to the U.S.—as manufacturers in other industries are considering—is simply out of the question for many European wineries.
“Wine is not just a product that you can do a trade-off for another wine. Wine is about provenance,” said Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, chief executive of the Champagne house Frerejean Frères in northern France. “French Champagne is not just any type of sparkling wine.”
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