LOS ANGELES—Amid the clamor surrounding President Donald Trump’s whirlwind tariff announcements over the past week, some in California’s wine industry are taking a sanguine view.
Stuart Spencer, a winemaker and executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission, based in the state’s Central Valley, said recent media coverage has mostly focused on the perspective of restaurants and retailers that rely on imports, and ignored that of growers and winemakers.
”Speaking for many California grape growers, I think many of them would feel [the tariffs are] supportive and feel it’s necessary to level the playing field,” Spencer said. “Because they’re not competing on a level playing field.”...
