A Brooklyn wine shop owner has developed an innovative approach to circumvent hefty tariffs on European wine imports by purchasing premium bottles already stored within the United States.
Chris Leon, proprietor of the popular Brooklyn establishment Leon & Son, has begun searching American basements and private collections for high-quality European vintages, which he then acquires and sells through digital auction platforms.
“There’s a lot of wine here already, a lot of really good wine,” Leon explained, describing how the auction concept provides a workaround for the tariff challenges.
Leon’s creative business model represents one of many ways entrepreneurs and business owners are adapting to the trade policy changes implemented during the Trump administration, which resulted in increased import duties on various products ranging from pharmaceuticals to alcoholic beverages.
The strategy emerged from Leon’s concerns about how tariffs would affect his operation, considering that imported wines generate 90% of his shop’s income. The trade measures have impacted numerous European wine varieties, including French champagne, Italian barolo, and Spanish rioja, as part of comprehensive trade policy reforms that began in April of the previous year.
Items planned for the inaugural auction feature Italian wine labels that are no longer manufactured, sourced from a private collector’s long-held inventory, plus bottles from a New York restaurant’s storage connected to discontinued menu pairings.
Under an EU-U.S. trade agreement enacted in August, European wines encountered a 15% import duty upon entering American markets. Although the Supreme Court reversed several Trump-era tariffs in February, replacement levies were swiftly established, including minimum 10% charges on European merchandise.
The former president defended these measures as necessary to address significant trade imbalances between the United States and various international partners.
Wine industry representatives cautioned last year about potential negative impacts on their businesses. Leon & Son joins thousands of wine companies nationwide that have been compelled to develop innovative solutions.
Other American wine enterprises are transitioning to domestic options or less expensive imported brands as tariff-driven price increases accelerate in 2026, according to recent industry reporting.
Vanessa Price, who serves as a wine director, restaurant owner, and author of “Big Macs & Burgundy,” noted that emerging auction platforms like Leon’s concept provide a modern alternative to established auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, which have traditionally dominated fine wine auctions.
“There is still plenty of room… to come in and shake things up,” Price observed. “Because it’s still such a mysterious world for so many people.”
