California wine producers spent decades convinced they owned American wine country.
That illusion just shattered.
And this Tennessee winery just gave California's wine snobs a brutal reality check.
California's Wine Empire Crumbles Under Trump's Trade War
California produces roughly 80% of America's wine and generates about $55 billion annually from the industry.¹
But Trump's tariff policies have California winemakers scrambling.
Tariffs on European imports drove up costs for essential supplies like French oak barrels, corks, and glass bottles that California vineyards depend on.²
Meanwhile, retaliatory tariffs from Canada — which bought a third of California's wine exports in 2022 — have devastated the Golden State's international sales.³
At least three Canadian provinces pulled U.S. wine from shelves entirely after Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods.⁴
California wine industry executives whined to the press about how unfair it all was.
They begged Trump to exempt European wines from tariffs because competition might force them to actually innovate.
But 30 minutes south of Nashville, Arrington Vineyards is proving California doesn't own American wine country.
Country Star's Tennessee Vineyard Shows California How It's Done
Kix Brooks — one half of legendary country duo Brooks & Dunn — co-owns Arrington Vineyards with winemaker Kip Summers.
The vineyard opened in July 2007 after Summers and Brooks transformed what had been hog and cattle farms into Nashville's wine country.⁵
Their operation now spans 95 acres with 16 acres of vineyards producing award-winning wines.
Brooks & Dunn became the best-selling country duo of all time with 20 number-one hits during their two-decade career before entering the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019.⁶
Now Brooks is bringing that same success to Tennessee wine.
Arrington Vineyards produces 22 award-winning wines on site, including their signature Antiquity red blend that spends a year aging in used Tennessee whiskey barrels.⁷
The wine is made from Chambourcin grapes — a hybrid variety that thrives in Tennessee's humid climate where traditional California grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon can't survive.⁸
"It's almost impossible to grow Cabernet here in Tennessee," winemaker Chase Vienneau explained. "We've obviously had to switch over to hybrids here, which still make really good wines, and they're a little more resistant to our climate."⁹
That's called adapting instead of complaining.
California winemakers watched their costs skyrocket from tariffs while begging for government bailouts.
Tennessee winemakers figured out how to work with what they had.
Fox News Wine Shop Brings Tennessee To America's Table
Arrington Vineyards just partnered with the Fox News Wine Shop to showcase their Antiquity blend nationwide.
The wine demonstrates what happens when American innovation beats coastal elite gatekeeping.
"The wine that's part of this Fox Wine Club is made from a grape called Chambourcin, which is well-known in Virginia and New York, and a lot of the areas in the eastern United States," Summers said.¹⁰
The result is what Summers called "a really good, consistent dry red wine for us every year."¹¹
Vienneau added that Chambourcin's versatility lets them produce everything from Ruby-style port to dry rosé to French-method sparkling wine.¹²
California couldn't pull that off with their precious Cabernet if tariffs tripled overnight.
The vineyard's proximity to Nashville created something California's wine country can't match — music and wine in one destination.
"When we talk about us being Nashville's wine country, we're really one of the few places you can go if you're in Nashville, and if you said to yourself, 'I'd really like to go out and hang out in a vineyard and have a bottle of wine with some cheese and a charcuterie tray — and enjoy the scenery, walk among the vines and just have a nice afternoon,'" Summers explained.¹³
Brooks keeps it simple about why Arrington works.
"We started the winery down here with the idea of providing a place for people to enjoy a little bit of wine country," he said, "but in Middle Tennessee."¹⁴
California spent decades telling Americans you had to buy wine from Napa or Sonoma to get quality.
Tennessee just proved that was always a lie.
Brooks and Summers built Arrington Vineyards on American ingenuity instead of government protection from competition.
That's the difference between builders and complainers.
¹ "California wine prices could rise amid E.U. imports tariffs," Spectrum News, June 3, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ "California wine producers being crushed by tariff tit for tat," Spectrum News, March 11, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ "5 Things to Know About Arrington Vineyards," Williamson Source, September 7, 2024.
⁶ "Brooks & Dunn," Country Music Hall of Fame, October 1, 2024.
⁷ "Nashville's hidden 'wine country' provides taste of Tennessee in whiskey barrels," Fox News, November 16, 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.