Real estate mogul Donald Trump purchased a renowned Virginia winery Thursday, spending $6 million to buy most of the Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard outside Charlottesville. The 800 acres, which were once owned by Virginia socialite Patricia Kluge, were purchased by a Trump representative at a bank auction.
Trump, who has suddenly emerged as a GOP presidential contender and a vocal Obama skeptic, already owns the Trump National Golf Club in Loudoun County.
“I’m really interested in good real estate, not so much in wine,” Trump said in an phone interview after the auction. “This place had a $28 million mortgage on it, and I bought it for $6.2 million.”
He said he is likely to keep Kluge, 62, who has won accolades for her wines, in charge of the operation. “She has a great instinct for wine, which I don’t,” he said. But he will definitely put his own name on the label: “Of course, it’s only Trump. Everything is Trump.”
