Yes because of the tariffs, not because of the thinly veiled threats to make Canada a 51st state.
I think it’s everything.
Not just the tarrifs themselves, but the idea of the tarrifs pisses us off. It’s a betrayal, and we’ve done nothing wrong and we’ve just helped the US to thrive.
The 51st state stuff is just added icing.
You can still buy American wine in some grocery stores, as long as they have stock. But the Liquor Control Boards in each province aren’t bringing any more in.
My local grocery store has some White Zinfandel still on the shelf. It doesn’t appear to be moving. Every time I go by, I turn the bottles in the front around - you can’t turn them upside-down.
I like how the article didn’t even attempt to address some of the issues as to why the wine business in the U.S. is struggling.
The wine business in the U.S. was good for a long time. Lots vineyards have been planted over the years. It takes around 5 years for a vineyard once planted to come into full production. So the market saturation point in production is delayed by 5 years.
We hit the market saturation point right about the time COVID hit. In the past 5 years production has kept coming on. For the past few years thousands of acres of grapes have not been harvested.
Market consolidation has also occurred. For example Gallo now controls 25% of the market. They make a shit ton of mediocre product very cheaply. A few other companies make up the bulk of market now.
So the smaller wineries have been surviving on tourism and small batches. They are a luxury items that people are skipping as the greed of the ultra rich are bankrupting the middle and lower incomes.
Then a orange turd is elected again and the moron accelerates the decline.
Here’s a hint guys, the market isn’t going to turn around until a lot of people go under.
Good
Was anyone buying that antifreeze-lazed slop in the first place?
“American wine” sounds as trustworthy as “Russian coffee”.
Are you suggesting that our total and complete lack of health and safety standards and really even a modicum of self respect - hurts our international product sales? How could that possibly be?
As an American, I was taught that maximizing quarterly profits will solve all of my problems, so I have no framework to use this idea, and so I will ignore it.
P.s. Help welcome. Some of us realize we’re disgusting. Discussing here probably does help. Thank you.