The US placed a tariff across a range of wines imported from Europe's major producers a fortnight ago, as part of a trade dispute related to aircraft subsidies.
An additional 25% ad valorem tax will be applied to bottled wine from France, Spain, Germany and the UK, with the exclusion of sparkling wines and those with more than 14% alcohol.
New Zealand Winegrowers general manager, advocacy, Jeffrey Clarke said while it was too early to pop the cork on the overall effect, the New Zealand wine sector was in a good place, as the US' third biggest wine importer, behind Italy and France.
"Of those three, we are at the premium end along with France," he said.
"However, we're not thrilled to see anyone's wine anywhere being used as a tool for trade tariffs, as it's just not good for the global industry as a whole."
Agriservices bank Rabobank estimated about 60% of European wine sales could be affected by value and said the US action could have an influence on French and Spanish wine exports. The US market accounts for about 18% and 12% of those respectively.
The American market is not quite as important to German wine producers - about 10% of its exports - but will have an effect across the majority of what does land in US stores.
The latest Rabobank wine quarterly, says that the tariffs will force wineries to make difficult choices between sacrificing margins or passing on the costs, and losing "hard won" market share can be difficult to regain.
Rabobank senior wine and horticulture analyst Hayden Higgins believed that, given the size of the tariffs, exporters would be likely to pass on at least part of the extra tariff to their importers.
He expected retail prices to increase by 10% to 15% across the board.
The report says that for the past quarter, both the value and volume of New Zealand wine exports grew by 6%, the majority of growth coming from increased sauvignon blanc exports to the UK and US markets, which represent about 85% of overall New Zealand wine exports across all markets.
"In the UK, which is our largest market by volume, we saw a 12% increase in volume and an 18% increase in value, while in the US - our most important value-based market - the volume of exports rose by 5% and the value by 8%," Mr Higgins said.
Customs service total wine exports for the year to August 2019 - across both bottled and bulk - was 268 million litres, valued at $1.8 billion.
According to NZ Winegrowers, Americans quaffed $557 million of New Zealand wine last year, followed by the UK at $446 million.
Sauvignon blanc is still the drink of choice, accounting for about 231 million litres, or 85%, of the total. New Zealand pinot noir is at 12 million litres, or about 4.5%.
Mr Clarke said the US market had doubled its wine volumes from New Zealand over the past six years alone, surpassing both the UK and Australia as our fastest growing market
Of New Zealand's top three export destinations, only Australia showed no growth, dropping one percent both in volume and value, the Rabobank report showed.
Burn Cottage Vineyard outside Cromwell, whose owners live in Chicago, has been exporting into the US for the past 10 years.
During that time it has established a presence across around 15 states and into Canada and Brazil.
Burn Cottage general manager and winemaker Claire Mulholland said it was largely a matter of educating the market and "constantly telling our story".
Burn Cottage's two Pinot labels fetch around $45 and $65 at US retailers.
Akarua Wines, which also focuses on pinot noir, says it is "on the cusp" of a move into the US market.
Its international sales manager Zoe Ladyman said the US market said it had been a difficult one to crack.
"It's been a journey; we'd love to be in the market but pinot is still in its infancy in the US."
