SOUR GRAPES

Wineries Forced to Find New Ways to Survive Under Trump

Even wealthy regions are not immune to the president’s economic policies.

California winemakers have described how their businesses are struggling because of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Rising costs, along with declining visitor numbers amid the cost-of-living crisis exacerbated under the president’s second term, are severely affecting wineries in the Napa Valley region, according to an NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit report.

Christi Ficeli, owner of Goosecross Cellars, said that visitors to her family-run winery are down about 40 percent from just five years ago.

“Cash is tight right now. The economy’s tough on us. Prices are increasing,” she told NBC Bay Area. When asked what kind of costs had increased, Ficeli replied: “Oh, a little bit of everything.”

While the wine is made locally in California, supplies needed to bottle and sell it often come from abroad. That includes wine barrels from France, glass bottles from China, and corks from Portugal—all of which have shot up in price since Trump announced his sweeping global tariffs.

The president’s war in Iran has also caused gas prices to soar, making those supplies even more expensive to transport.

“Our costs have gone up 10 percent to 12 percent, and our pricing has gone up 1 to 2 percent,” Ficeli said. “We’re absorbing a lot of that here.”

Tourist visits to Napa Valley are also down by around 50,000 annually compared with 2018, with rising costs putting visitors off. As noted by NBC Bay Area, the average cost of a night in a hotel in the area is $420, up 25 percent since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s probably about $5,000 just to stay here for the weekend before you even walk through the door of a winery,” Ficeli said. “Hotel, flight, rental car, and food. All up.”

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Ficeli said the winery has been forced to branch out into events such as movie nights and comedy shows to recover lost revenue.

“I would say 2026 is one of the hardest years we’ve had so far outside of COVID,” she said. “We’re working to cut costs everywhere we can.”

Tom Davies, who runs the V. Sattui Winery, told NBC Bay Area that he has also had to make drastic changes because of the economic downturn. This includes introducing three complimentary pours of wine, three days a week, to attract new business.

“We have to open our doors wider,” Davies told the NBC affiliate. “I want to even be more accessible than we’ve ever been before.”

“The real payoff will be down the road when we can get the kind of visitation back to the vineyards that we had back 10 years ago.”

“I think this is probably one of the most challenging times because it’s not just one thing, it’s like death by a thousand cuts,” Davies added. “We’re going through a really tough time. What’s at stake here is the sustainability of our wine industry.”

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