Spain
USA trade laneSpain has more land under vine than any other country, and its wines have a broad US following: Tempranillo from Rioja and Ribera del Duero, Garnacha and Cariñena from Priorat, Albariño from Rías Baixas, sherry from Jerez and Cava from Penedès. US importers range from national portfolios to small importers bringing in a handful of bodegas a year, and bulk wine for US bottling is a business of its own.
Wine is a licensed, labeled and taxed product, and a heat-sensitive one. AGF ships Spanish wine for TTB-permitted importers through WCA partner agents in Spain — AGF has no office there — choosing the container and the temperature protection by season, with Prior Notice, excise and the entry handled by our licensed customs brokers.
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Shipping Wine from Spain to USA
Choose the port by region. Rioja and the other northern regions often ship through Bilbao; Priorat, Penedès and Cava through Barcelona; and Valencia, with the widest choice of US services, handles central and eastern Spain and many consolidations. Ocean transit to the US East Coast takes roughly 10–16 days and 25–30 days to the West Coast; door to door to the East Coast, plan on 3–4 weeks including clearance.
Then choose the protection. An insulated container liner buffers temperature swings in the cooler months at modest cost. A reefer set at 13–15°C is the safe choice for fine wine and for any summer sailing, when a dry container on a Mediterranean quay can cook the wine inside. Bulk wine for US bottling travels in a flexitank — roughly 20,000–24,000 liters in one 20ft container — at a fraction of the per-liter cost of bottled wine.
- Bilbao for Rioja and the north; Barcelona for Priorat, Penedès and Cava; Valencia for the widest choice of sailings
- Insulated liners in cool months; a 13–15°C reefer for fine wine and summer sailings
- Flexitanks for bulk wine bound for US bottlers
- Mixed-bodega consolidation for importers building a Spanish portfolio
What Drives the Cost
- Reefer versus liner versus dry container, and the season you ship in
- Bottled versus bulk — flexitank wine costs far less per liter to move
- Federal excise tax by wine category, with still, higher-strength and sparkling wine taxed differently, and reduced rates available when producers assign them under the Craft Beverage Modernization Act
- Customs duty — EU wine pays its normal duty topped up to 10% in total under the Section 301 measure in force since 24 July 2026; confirmed at quoting
- Consolidation across bodegas and regions
- Bonded storage versus duty-paid delivery
HS Codes and Duty Notes
Classification guidance only — duty rates change and depend on your exact product. Our licensed customs brokers verify every code before you commit to an order.
| HS Code | Products | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2204.21 | Still wine in containers of 2 liters or less | The bottled-wine line. Strength matters: above 14% alcohol the tariff line changes, and above 16% so does the excise class — sherry included. |
| 2204.10 | Sparkling wine, including Cava | Carries a different duty and a higher excise rate than still wine. |
| 2204.22 / 2204.29 | Wine in containers over 2 liters — bag-in-box, and bulk wine in flexitanks | Bulk wine for US bottling. The bottled product then needs its own label approval. |
Regulations and Compliance
TTB importer's basic permit and COLA
Importing wine for sale requires a federal importer's basic permit from TTB, held by the US importer of record, and a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) for every label before the wine is released from customs custody. The US label must carry the mandatory statements — brand, class, alcohol content, net contents in an authorized standard of fill, the government health warning, 'Contains sulfites' where it applies, and the importer's name. Labels or US strip labels are applied at the bodega.
FDA registration and Prior Notice
Bodegas are food facilities under US law. Each must be registered with FDA — renewed every two years, with the current renewal window running from 1 October to 31 December 2026 — and every shipment needs Prior Notice before arrival. Wine is exempt from the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, but not from registration or Prior Notice.
Excise, bonded storage and the three-tier system
Federal excise tax is paid at entry unless the wine goes into a customs bonded warehouse, which defers duty and excise until the wine is withdrawn for sale — useful for importers releasing stock to the market in stages. Beyond the port, most states require wine to move from importer to licensed wholesaler to retailer, in some states a state agency fills one of those roles, and many states require label registration before sale.
Spanish export paperwork
Wine leaving a Spanish tax warehouse under duty suspension travels on an electronic administrative document (e-AD) in the EU's excise movement system until it exits the EU, alongside the export declaration and its MRN. Our partner agents in Spain coordinate these with the bodega so the excise movement closes cleanly at origin.
Tariffs on Spanish wine — and one measure we have not verified
Since 24 July 2026 most EU goods, wine included, have paid their normal duty topped up to 10% in total under a Section 301 measure. Separately, under the 2021 Airbus–Boeing truce the US suspended for five years its 25% tariff on certain still wines from Spain, France and Germany, a suspension that ran to July 2026. We have not been able to verify the US-side status of that suspension since then, so we do not state a position on it here: the tariff status of your exact wine is confirmed by our licensed customs brokers at quoting.
Door-to-Door Import Service
We confirm the importer's TTB permit, the COLAs and each bodega's FDA registration. Our partner agents in Spain then collect from the bodegas — one estate, or several for a consolidated container — and load a liner, reefer or flexitank by product and season at Bilbao, Barcelona or Valencia, with the e-AD and export declaration completed.
Prior Notice is filed before arrival. On landing, our licensed customs brokers file the entry and pay duty and excise, or enter the wine into a bonded warehouse, and partner carriers deliver to your licensed warehouse or wholesaler, temperature-protected where the wine needs it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I import wine from Spain to the US?
What is the tariff on wine from Spain?
Does wine need a refrigerated container?
What is the three-tier system for imported wine?
Wine is just one example. AGF ships whatever your business moves — on this lane and beyond. If your commodity isn't covered by one of our guides, tell us what you ship and we'll build the logistics around it.
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