🍷 How are tariffs reshaping the US fine wine market? Who is actually collecting wine in America today? And can the industry solve its access problem before the next generation walks away?
In Episode 17 of Uncorked, a special US edition recorded live in New York during the United States launch of CultX, Tom Gearing and Jonathan Stevenson welcome Carmela Blackman, founder of CB Cellars, a New York-based concierge and collector advisory business, for a boots-on-the-ground look at the American fine wine market.
Carmela works directly with collectors across the US, so the conversation goes behind the scenes of how Americans are really buying, drinking and thinking about wine, from tariffs and rising auction prices to changing collector behaviour, wine experiences and what the next generation actually wants.
Drawing on a route into wine that ran through Cornell, hospitality, luxury brand marketing and the auction world at Acker Merrall & Condit, Carmela brings an unsentimental, close-up read on the market. Together, the panel explores how tariffs rewrote the economics of sourcing, why so much of the market now rests on older collectors selling down cellars bought decades ago, and how sharing, community and access could matter more than price in bringing through younger drinkers.
📌 Topics covered in this episode:
• Meet Carmela Blackman and CB Cellars
• Tariffs, auctions and the changing US market
• The next generation of collectors, and the rise of tech money
• New York, community and making wine accessible
• California, Oregon and finding value
• Wine as an investment, and the Michael Burry effect
• Why you should still want to drink what you own
• Gatekeeping, sharing and the access problem
• Build a Cellar: starter cellars, converting a sceptic, and bottles to lay down
One of the episode's central ideas is that fine wine has more than a price problem, it has an access problem. As Carmela puts it, the bottle that draws someone into wine often matters far less than the experience around it, whether that is a memorable dinner, meeting a producer or sharing a mature wine with someone who knows its story. Established collectors are increasingly looking to open and share the cellars they have built over decades, while younger buyers care more about access, experiences and drinking than simply accumulating bottles.
The conversation also makes room for a candid take on wine as an investment. Following recent interest from The Big Short investor Michael Burry, the panel discusses where wine fits among tangible and alternative assets, and why, as Carmela warns, buying purely on expected price appreciation can leave you holding wine you neither want to drink nor can easily sell.
🔗 CB Cellars: https://cbcellar.com
🔗 CB Cellars on Instagram: @cb_cellars
Whether you're a collector, investor, wine professional or simply curious about where the US market goes next, this episode offers a sharp, honest and genuinely useful view of American fine wine in transition.
🍇 Explore more:
🔗 Cult Wines: https://www.wineinvestment.com/
🔗 CultX: https://www.cultx.com/
Follow Uncorked for more conversations on fine wine, collecting, investing, and the people shaping the future of the market.
