WSWA: Consumers Stocked Up On Champagne Ahead Of Tariffs
The first quarter of this year saw a notable bump in Champagne depletions, according to the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s (WSWA) SipSource data tracker, suggesting that consumers stocked up on bubbly ahead of expected tariffs on European wines. The president had threatened 200% tariffs on “all wines, Champagnes, and alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries” in mid-March, although only 10% levies are so far in effect.
The WSWA added that Prosecco depletions have decelerated lately but were still up 1% by volume in the 12 months through March, and that imported wines overall have seen sharper declines than domestics so far this year. European Union wines have a 54% volume share and 68% revenue share of all imports, WSWA noted, with Italian wines alone accounting for 11% and 14% of the total U.S. wine market in volume and value terms respectively.
Overall, U.S. wine depletions fell 7% in volume in the 12-month period through March, with wine-based cocktails representing the best-performing segment. Spirits depletion volume was down by 4%, with Tequila being the only growing segment, up 1.3% on a slight acceleration from the prior month.—Daniel Marsteller
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