The reason? “Canada’s exports used to account for 40 percent of the company’s export revenue, but have fallen to 5 percent,” the Los Angeles Times wrote.
Ah, so that means Canadians boycotting alcohol caused this misery at the McManis winery? No. But the headline reads very click-friendly. The facts in this case look a tiny bit different.
McManis Family Vineyards produced roughly $22 million US in barrel sales across 3,500 acres. From July 2025 to July 2026. And here’s where the correction climbs out from behind the barrel: 90 percent of the business was barrel wine sales within the USA. So the mentioned 40 percent is only the share of one small slice of the fermenting cake — a 35 percent drop on the affected ten percent of revenue.
I see. Ten percent of the cake, wrapped in panic and sold as the end of the world. Journalism with a calculator allergy.
Boycotts do work, of course. After the first threat from the south about annexing Canada as the 51st state, accompanied by punitive tariffs, consumers reacted. And boycotted. In Ontario, the LCBO, the province’s liquor authority, pulled all American wines and spirits off the shelves and put them into storage. That was, and is, hard on American wine producers when a chunk of the northern market falls away. All the more delighted were the wineries here in Canada, still “struggling” with a boom in sales.
Some are crying. Others are selling wine. And somewhere in between sits the question that remains: Does trust ever come back?
Once trust is damaged, the repair job is usually a patchwork. Anyone who’s taken up the wonderful hobby of romantic relationships knows this state well. Especially those who’ve gone looking elsewhere once or twice.
Trust is probably one of the most sensitive feelings we keep in the treasure chest. When cracks appear and the consequences hit hard, a full renovation is rare. The cracks stay visible and tangible, even once they’ve been puttied over.
Canada sees the cracks, and acts. Not only where wine is concerned. Travel to the United States of America has lost its appeal for us Canucks. Oh, we still like Americans well enough. But we can’t quite stomach the current president of that union.
Boycotts are expensive. For everyone involved. Wineries in California suffer the lost revenue because we’re boycotting them. Canada loses out on tax revenue because the American offerings are no longer on the shelves.
CBC’s David Cochrane put it this way: “America isn’t the way it is because he’s president. He’s president because America is the way it is.”
As a Swiss-Canadian, I’m learning a lot about the famously discreet nature of the Canadian soul. It amazes me. And somehow makes me proud to belong to it.
Whoever pokes the Canadian bear had better have fast legs.
Or better politics.
I wonder — since nobody but my cat is here to ask — whether trust in the USA could be switched back on if democracy there were restored. Will Canadians ever find their way back to how things were before the 45th and 47th presidents?
Not likely.
Almost daily now, reports surface about new markets in the EU, in Asia, in Africa, showing up in Canada’s portfolio. If these alliances work, and prove prosperous for everyone involved, why should “the ex” get the wheel back?
Whine-y? Maybe. But at least it’s a good vintage.
“Cheers!”
