In a rare interview with a major mainstream media outlet this week, Angelo Gaja shares a ray of light that he sees in the fog of tariff war.

(The interview came to my attention via a post by the excellent Italian wine-focused journalist Filippo Larganà and his blog Sapori del Piemonte.)

He reminds his interlocutor, the high-profile editor and journalist Salvatore Merlo, that Italy was spared from tariffs in the first Trump administration while other European nations like France were targeted.

This created new “space” for Italian wines in the U.S. market, resulting in sales growth. It’s possible that the Trump trade team will exclude Italian wine on April 2 when they release their final list of tariffed products. Let’s wait and see what happens, he tells his interviewer. It might be good for Italian wine, he notes.

Gaja also expresses his optimism about the end of the war in Ukraine. There will be a lot to celebrate when hostilities cease, he points out. The Russian market will be thirsty for Italian wine, he speculates, once the country opens up again to the world.

Merlo also asks Gaja to share his thoughts on the Italian political class. In his answers, he likens pols to wines. Meloni? A “Lambrusca.”

Screenshot via Il Folio.