Oracles Craft Brands Files For Bankruptcy

US importer Oracles, which specialises in bringing Italian, Greek and Portuguese wine brands into America, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as import tariffs soar. Oracles Craft Brands, based in Florida, filed a petition with the US Bankruptcy Court on 12 May, citing the toll of wine import tariffs as a major contributing factor. The company is now looking to sell on its assets, worth around US$4 million, as well as more than US$342,000 in liabilities. The importer, which is only five years old, having launched in 2020, is well-known for bringing Italian, Greek and Portuguese wines into the United States, as well as distributing craft spirits including American whiskies. Some of the European wine producers on Oracles books that may now be looking for a new US distributor are Primaterra, La Maialina, Rilasso and Quattro Mani from Italy, Kaldera from Santorini, Greece, and Verday canned wine from Portugal. The aforementioned producers shipped Montepuliciano d’Abruzzo, Lambrusco, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Nero, Sangiovese and Primitivo wines to the US via Oracles, as well as Assyrtiko and Vermentino. According to the petition, Oracles has chosen to proceed under Subchapter V as a small business debtor, owing sums to as many as 49 creditors. Gellert Seitz Busenkell & Brown, LLC has been retained as bankruptcy counsel for the case.

Tariff gymnastics

Oracles claims that macroeconomic conditions and wine import tariffs led to its financial woes, and it is by no means the only company left drifting out at sea over Trump's back and forth over taxes. Almost immediately after his inauguration as President in January 2025, Trump threatened to slap tariffs of 200% on European wine imported into the US. On 2 April, he revealed that the EU would in fact be subject to much lower import tariffs of 20%, though this still represented a significant leap on the sum European wine producers had paid previously. Responding to the announcement, EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen described the move as a “major blow to the world economy”. “Let’s be clear-eyed about the immense consequences,” she said. “The global economy will massively suffer. Uncertainty will spiral and trigger the rise of further protectionism... All businesses, big and small, will suffer from day one, from big uncertainty to the disruption of supply chains, to burdensome bureaucracy. The costs of doing business with the United States will drastically increase." However, just days later on 9 April 2025 Trump backtracked again and announced that he was lowering tariffs to 10% during a 90-day 'pause' period for all countries apart from China, while he continued discussions with more than 75 countries that had contacted the US Government “to negotiate a solution”.

Home-grown trouble

It's not only European wine producers that have been rattled by tariff uncertainty. Many US wine importers were forced to halt their outgoing shipments from Europe while the industry waited for the guillotine to drop; shipments that had already been paid for, leaving importers out of pocket and with holes in their stock. It also meant that businesses were seeing longstanding business relationships come to an abrupt end, making it necessary to explore alternative sources, all at a cost to the importer. Speaking to the drinks business, David Parker, CEO of fine and rare wine emporium Benchmark Wine Group, said that the situation "will make it harder for us to restock from some of our favourite sources in Europe.” In other words, American wine businesses are suffering, Oracles Craft Brands being one of them. db has contacted Oracles for comment.