Show Notes
🍷 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.
More from Uncorked: A Cult Wines Podcast
🍷 Is the fine wine market finally turning? Where is liquidity returning? And after more than two years of correction, could flat really be the new up?
🍷 What can the wine industry learn from Taylor Swift? Is fine wine really an investment? And why might France's most protected traditions be its biggest weakness?
🍷 Is English wine finally having its moment? Can the UK sell as much wine as it can now make? And why is vineyard tourism booming right on our doorstep? In Episode 14 of Uncorked, Tom Gearing and Jonathan Stevenson welcome Alice Griffiths, wine writer, columnist and passionate advocate for English and Welsh wine, for a lively deep dive into one of the UK's most exciting wine categories. This episode heads much closer to home. Drawing on Alice's two decades in agriculture and her full-time career championing homegrown wine, the conversation explores cellar doors, vineyard trails, still wines, Welsh producers, social media, supermarkets and even a Guinness World Record attempt involving 80 vineyards in seven days. Alice shares where to start if you want to visit English vineyards, why tourism is becoming a genuine hospitality opportunity rather than a novelty, and what the next stage of the industry really depends on. Together, the panel discusses the English wine boom, the challenge of selling enough of it, and how supermarkets, cellar doors and vineyard visits can each become a doorway into the category.
🍷 Is wine still culturally relevant? What makes someone become a collector? And how can the fine wine trade connect with the next generation?
Welcome to Episode 12 of Uncorked, the Cult Wines podcast. Tom Gearing, our Co-founder and CEO, is joined as always by Jonathan Stevenson, EVP of Cult Wines North America, with special guest Aarash Ghatineh, Cult Wines’ CRO. Aarash returns for what Tom calls the ‘big guns’ episode, because we have reached that point in the year where the market story matters. We are already at the end of Q1, and with Bordeaux En Primeur about to dominate the calendar, this is the moment to take stock of what has changed, what has not, and where collectors are actually putting money to work. The conversation starts with a straight read on the tone of trading so far this year, then pulls apart the themes sitting underneath it: stability returning to parts of the market, buyers focusing more on fundamentals, and renewed activity in the vintages and regions that offer both stature and opportunity. From there, attention turns to the questions everyone asks at this time of year. What needs to happen for En Primeur 2025 to land well? How should buyers think about value once carrying costs are considered? How has easier trading changed the old buy-and-hold logic? As ever, it is not all spreadsheets and seriousness; there is room for a bit of fun between the numbers. 📌 What’s covered in Episode 12: End of Q1: Steadier Market ToneQ1 shows greater price stability, with less speculation and more disciplined buying. After recent volatility, there are signs the market is finding support.