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For decades, producers for Champagne in France have relied on U.S. buyers, but U.S. tariffs and tariff threats have some vintage producers saying that era is over. Many European winemakers no longer see the United States as a market they can count on, as NPR's Rebecca Rosman discovered in France's Champagne region.
CHARLES FOURNY: So here you can see Chardonnay vines.
REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: Fifth-generation champagne maker Charles Fourny is showing me his family tree in the form of a kind of family vine. These vines were planted by his grandfather over 70 years ago and still bear fruit today.
FOURNY: And we hope that our kids will go on pruning the same wine.
ROSMAN: Same wine, same vines, but maybe not the same sales strategy. Fourny has spent nearly 30 years cultivating ties with American distributors, but now he's facing a new reality - uncertainty about the future of his exports to the U.S.
FOURNY: We do not trust because now we say we don't know what will happen. You have really the impression that you are enemies.
ROSMAN: And President Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs hasn't helped, he says. He finds Trump's decision-making too volatile and still doesn't know at what percent Champagne will be taxed under the new tariffs.
FOURNY: We spoke about 200, now it's 20, and perhaps tomorrow it will be 6,000.
ROSMAN: Which is why he's now looking to pivot.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
ROSMAN: Fourny leads me down into a chilly wine cellar where thousands of bottles are stacked and ready for export. Today, 18% of his sales go to the U.S., but he says he's shifting focus to more stable markets like Brazil. It's a tough new reality. For years, the U.S. was France's top Champagne buyer, a driver of both growth and prestige. But this uncertainty goes both ways.
HARMON SKURNIK: It's just a horrific kind of self-inflicted wound on American companies.
ROSMAN: Harmon Skurnik is a New York-based wine importer. In a worst-case scenario, he says, wines from abroad could disappear from American shelves entirely, and American wines can't simply fill in the gap.
SKURNIK: We can't buy as much American wine. Not to mention the fact that these products are just - are not fungible.
ROSMAN: In other words, California bubbly isn't a perfect substitute, and the fallout could affect domestic sales, too. Skurnik says this will eventually trickle down to American consumers, who will likely have to pay a higher price on imported wines or change the way they drink.
Back in the Champagne region, just steps off the famous Boulevard de Champagne, I stumble upon a group of American bubbly drinkers who tell me they actually support Trump's tariffs. One of them is 29-year-old Justin Fishman.
JUSTIN FISHMAN: We're tariffing a luxury item, I would say. Like, Champagne's not something that everybody needs on a daily basis.
ROSMAN: Fishman's friend Joseph Psyck from Kentucky agrees, though his drink of choice isn't exactly under threat.
JOSEPH PSYCK: I'm going to drink what I want to drink at home, no matter what.
ROSMAN: What do you want to drink at home?
PSYCK: Bourbon.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAMPAGNE POURING)
ROSMAN: Back at Fourny's estate, he offers a bittersweet toast.
FOURNY: Cheers, and...
ROSMAN: OK, cheers. Santé.
Fourny says he wishes Trump realized that all this is more than just about Champagne.
FOURNY: You know, when you do that with a country, it's not a business - it's a long-term relationship with the people.
ROSMAN: And once that's uncorked, it may not be so easy to bottle it back up again. Rebecca Rosman, NPR News, the Champagne region, France.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALEXIS FFRENCH'S "BLUEBIRD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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