As the latest step to achieving world domination and building his vast personal fortune, real estate mogul and potential GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump purchased Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard. He paid $6.2 million for the estate at a foreclosure auction.
Recent financial problems forced socialite Patricia Kluge to sell her prized vineyard, but Trump said he will likely continue to employ her. Kluge was once the wife of billionaire John Kluge, once the richest man in America. When they divorced, she dreamed of a world-class vineyard in Virginia and built the Kluge estate. She hired a world-class wine blender, Michel Rolland, to mix red wines for her.
Still, expansion plans during the recession and less than critically acclaimed wine brought the vineyard down. Trump has now acquired a series of properties in Virginia, though it is unclear what he plans to do with them.
“I’m really interested in good real estate, not so much in wine,” Trump told the Washington Post. “This place had a $28 million mortgage on it, and I bought it for $6.2 million. It’s a Trump deal!”
Photo by makdune/ Gage Skidmore
