French champagne producers do business with the US every year worth $1 billion. But on Friday, the only number on who's lips was 200 in Epernay, the world capital of sparkling wine.
This was the percentage of tariffs President Trump threatened to export to champagne and other European wines and spirits to the United States. This exploded in the trade war that exploded this past week after the European Union rebutted Trump's fines and penalties for aluminum for its own obligations for American products.
The triple girders threat lands like Epernay's thunder, lining up nearby fields workers, small village producers, Epernay's central boulevard, and venerable homes lined with UNESCO heritage, which spits out their tasteful wealth.
“The 200% tariff is designed to prevent champagne from being shipped to the United States,” said Calvin Boucher, manager of Michel Gonette, a 225-year-old champagne house on Avenue. From 20 to 30% of 200,000 bottles, it is exported to American wine merchants and restaurants every year, and “the business is crushed,” he said, adding that the price of $125 champagne will more than triple overnight.
Epernay sits in the heart of the world's cleverest bubble-producing region. The US is the largest foreign market, with 27 million bottles shipped in 2023, valued at around 810 million euros ($885 million).
The blankets of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes cover the plain hills and deep champagne valleys, covering more than 130 square miles, from the town of Lame to the Orb River. The region is under France's strict appellation dalinin system, and only the sparkling wines made here are legally referred to as champagne, using certain methods.
With over 4,000 independent winemakers and 360 champagne houses, the area produces around 300 million bottles a year, with 1 billion people resting in the cellar. The largest homes, including Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, and Moët & Chandon, are owned by the luxurious conglomerate LVM H Moët Ennessy Louis Vuitton.
But those numbers were not comfortable in the wake of Trump's threat. Natalie Douset, located just off Champagne Avenue, is the president of Besserat des Bellfone, a specialized champagne house that exports 10% of its premium production to the United States, and said the trade war made her uneasy.
“We're waiting to see what happens, but that's not good news,” Deusett said. The champagne is made using a tedious low-pressure process that gives it a crisp acidity and fine foaming properties.
Champagne has already had a tough year with poor weather, with reduced yields. Consumption has declined as young people changed their habits and switched to cocktails and artisan beer. Champagne sales have been thinning since the pandemic, falling 9% last year.
At the same time, she said Europe was working on the war in Ukraine and Gaza. And now, the trade war with one of France's traditional allies, the United States, felt like a side-damaged damage over issues that have nothing to do with champagne.
“It seems like an intentional punishment,” said Cyril, owner of the Salvatri Wine Shop, just off the avenue, which serves various artisan champagne. His wife was the export manager of one of the big champagne homes and had already calculated numbers for the potential impact.
Leah Latzuki, an Epernay resident whose family has worked in the champagne business for generations, said she was pissed. “Many of our friends are small producers and they'll be hit very hard,” she said.
The damage from the trade war extends far beyond the imposing homes of champagne, ravaging American importers and distributors, putting a large number of small businesses at risk.
Michael Reiss, president of Vineyard Road, a small retailer in Framingham, Massachusetts, imports champagne and wine from Europe and distributes it to New England, saying small businesses like him, including restaurants and retailers, are “very hurting.” An unpredictable trade environment could force businesses to cancel planned investments, he added.
In addition to the pain, tariffs applied at the start of the supply chain could increase. It marks it because each company marks it accordingly, Reiss said. “So even a 25% tariff can easily lead to a price rise of 40-60%,” he said.
A 200% tariff “will eliminate the possibility that people will buy things that bring joy to their lives,” he added.
Even inside the Champagne Museum, adjacent to Epernay's Boulevard, chatter was lost to Trump's tariffs. Sachareineau, whose family owns a small champagne home, brought friends to learn about the history of champagne, which first appeared at royal tables in the 17th century, and gave the drink the nickname “King of Kings.”
“French people are starting to wake up to what's going on in the US and talk about boycotting American products,” she said.
Similar concerns are circulating in the field. Working in buttery morning lights, dozens of field hands fixed knotted brown grapes ahead of the growing season of freshly tilled Earth's spring in the shadow of Leuil, a champagne-producing town just west of Epenay.
Even these jobs were at risk, said Patrick Andrede, who runs a small company that helps maintain the champagne vineyard. The 12 hectares (30 acres) plot belonged to a small home exporting to the United States, he said.
If sales decrease, wine producers will have fewer field hands and less work for tractor operators, cork makers and bottle makers. In the worst case scenario, he could let champagne producers consider ripping grapes, he added.
On Friday, French finance minister Eric Lombard called the trade war “an idiot” and said he would travel to Washington soon. “We need to talk to Americans to set back the tension,” he told French television.
France's biggest champagne home has resigned from saying anything while waiting for how Trump's threats unfold, and while European officials wait for whether they can retreat him.
Among them was LVMH Moët Ennessy Louis Vuitton, which sells nearly 35% of wine and spirits in the United States. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Outside the Moët & Chandon Mansion at LVMH at Avenue des Champagne, a group of Americans took selfies in front of a statue of Dom Perignon, the monk who invented the champagne. In the dignified building, no staff wanted to talk about customs.
Still, locals whispered rumors that the big house was upset by the threat of tariffs, but expected it could be blown away quite a bit.
After all, Bernard Arnaud, France's wealthiest man and head of the LVMH empire, which controls most of the champagne production, said he had long-standing ties with the US president and was invited to the inauguration by Trump. Perhaps Mr. Arnaud's friendship would win at the end of the day, they said.
But for now, it's all just speculation. In reality, nothing is certain. Uncertainty is bad for business.
Back at Michel Gonette Champagne House, Boucher pointed to the cuvée exhibit, a popular presence among American clients.
“It's a stressful situation because we don't know if there will be tariffs or not,” he said. “That's not good for anyone.”
Reported by Aurelien Breeden and Ségolène Le Stradic.
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