CENTRE COUNTY — On Wednesday, April 2, President Donald Trump announced his reciprocal tariff plan, which includes tariffs on a range of European imports, including wine from France and Italy. This announcement follows a March proposal from the president outlining a 200% tax on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union moved forward with plans to implement a 50% tariff on American whiskey.
The wine industry, already strained by inflation, shipping costs, climate-related challenges, a cultural shift away from alcohol consumption and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now bracing for more uncertainty in the global market.
However, this isn’t the first time the wine industry has been caught in the crosshairs of international politics.
Since its inception, wine has not only been a cultural product, but a political instrument used to symbolize power, negotiate deals and enforce class structures. The most recent announcement of tariffs and a global trade war is just one modern chapter in a much older story.
“Wine has always been political,” Julianna Ramira, a Philadelphia-based sommelier, explained.
“For many, the wine industry is romanticized. Who hasn’t dreamed of running away to run a vineyard in Italy? But, apart from the hard work that goes into producing wine, the wine industry as a whole has a much less romantic history than most realize. It has always been tied to power, class and war. These tariffs are just the latest example of this.”
WINE WAS SAFER TO DRINK THAN WATER
Before modern sanitation, clean drinking water was not guaranteed — especially in densely populated urban centers or rural areas without access to fresh springs. Fermented beverages like wine and beer became vital to daily life, not just as a cultural or culinary staple but as a public health solution. Wine’s alcohol content made it less susceptible to bacterial contamination, and it was often diluted and consumed throughout the day by adults and children alike.
“Historically in Europe, especially in rural areas, wine wasn’t just a treat — it was survival,” Ramira explained. “This made wine not only essential but powerful. Governments and religious institutions regulated production, controlled taxes and monitored its distribution.”
Control over access to wine became a political tool, Ramira noted, explaining how in ancient Rome, cheap wine was subsidized for the lower classes to maintain social order. However, in times of unrest, those subsidies were often one of the first things at risk.
“Even something as simple as a vineyard quota could have massive political ripple effects,” Ramira said. “Leaders knew the impact of having something safe to consume for hydration.”
WINE AND RELIGION: A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP
Within Christianity, wine is a tool to symbolize the blood of Christ in the Eucharist. As such, it played a central role in religious rites and rituals, further embedding it into the fabric of political and cultural life across medieval Europe.
“Monasteries became early centers of wine production, and monastic orders, like the Cistercians, were some of the most skilled viticulturists of their time,” Ramira noted.
But wine’s political entanglements also became evident in times of religious conflict. Ramira explained how when Muslim rule spread into the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in areas of present-day Portugal and Spain, vineyards were frequently uprooted or repurposed.
“In Portugal, for example, the wine industry was completely changed. So were the financial lives of those who owned vineyards,” Ramira said. “This tension shows how wine intersects spiritual and political interests, and how the wine industry can be influenced by cultural climate and impact the economy.”
WINE AND THE MONARCHIES: BORDEAUX AND ENGLAND’S ROYAL TIES
Before the latest tariffs, a bottle of the best Bordeaux still would run a pretty penny.
“During the 12th century, Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II of England. This was a powerful political union and created a centuries-long bond between the English crown and the Bordeaux wine trade,” Ramira noted. “England ruled over Bordeaux for over 300 years and ensured a preferential market for its wines.”
Special export privileges were granted to Bordeaux merchants, and England’s elite developed a distinct taste for claret — a lighter red wine from the region that became a symbol of loyalty and refined status.
Even after the Hundred Years’ War ended English control of Bordeaux, the taste for its wines continued. This period marked one of the earliest examples of wine as a political commodity, subject to tariffs and trade disputes.
TRADE, TARIFFS AND THE POLITICS OF THE BOTTLE
From ancient Phoenician merchants shipping amphoras filled with wine across the Mediterranean to today’s global export markets, the wine industry has always been impacted by trade.
In the 18th century, the Methuen Treaty between England and Portugal gave Portuguese wines preferential treatment over their French rivals — transforming port into a national drink in Britain. In modern times, free trade agreements and retaliatory tariffs continue to shape what wines appear on American shelves and at what price.
“The newest tariffs are a part of that legacy,” Ramira said. “Wine has and will likely always be, in some way, political. It’s a reflection of history and who currently has power. That power will continue to add to its history.”
