Trump Thinks He Just Won a Wine Award. He Didn’t.
On Tuesday, January 24, Trump posted this jubilant comment on his imperiled TruthSocial site:
“Trump Winery just won the incredibly prestigious San Francisco Wine Competition!
“Trump Winery 2016 Brut Sparkling Reserve Wins Best in Class at San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition”
Congratulations to all of those at Trump Winery, Charlottesville, Virginia. What a great place!
Only one problem. This never happened.
The 2023 winner in the sparkling wine category is Chandon, a California winery. Last year’s 2022 best-of-class winner for sparkling wines in the San Francisco Chronicle competition was Gloria Ferrer, also a California winery.
To be fair, Trump Winery DID place first in the sparkler category in the 2019 competition — four years ago. And it was for the 2014 vintage, not the 2016.
The competition isn’t really considered “incredibly prestigious”. Not to take anything away from the entrants, but in the wine industry it’s pretty much considered a cattle call. There are around 7,000 entries every year though, which does make “best of class” an award to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Trump never mentions the winery’s talented winemaker, Jonathan Wheeler. While Wheeler’s wines haven’t exactly taken the world by storm, they do receive consistently favorable reviews — no mean trick for Virginia, considering the challenges of their growing climate. And Wheeler has been a steady employee — he has stayed with the winery since 2006, when it was previously owned by Patricia Kluge, who also made award-winning wines.
The winery itself is not, technically, owned by Donald Trump, but by his son Eric, through his eponymous Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing, LLC. (Because, who doesn’t love “manufactured” wine.)
Nevertheless, shortly after the riots and tragic murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Trump stated to the cameras:
“I own a house in Charlottesville. Does anyone know I own a house in Charlottesville? It is the winery.”
Perhaps Donald J. Trump can start his own wine competition. Then he can award himself “best-in-class” every year, just as he does in golf.
