Charlottesville: Trump Winery's Eric Trump nominated as rising star

There's celebrating going on at the Trump Winery, located in the shadow of Mr. Jefferson's mountain outside Charlottesville, Virginia. Eric Trump, 29-year-old son of famed real estate mogul Donald Trump, familiar face from NBC's "The Apprentice," and president of the winery, is in no danger of hearing the words, "You're fired!" anytime soon. He's up for a prestigious wine industry award.

Since acquiring the 1,300-acre vineyards in along the historic Monticello Wine Trail two years ago through the bankruptcy of Patricia Kluge, Trump Winery under the leadership of Eric has defined and perfected the art of marketing a Virginia wine. Distribution now covers twenty states and Trump wines can be found in such unexpected places as the Loft Mountain gift shop in Shenandoah National Park. They also export to three countries.  Along the way they have picked up gold medals and top awards at international wine festivals and even received the highest rating ever of a Virginia wine in early 2013.

All that detail has not been missed by those in the industry. He has been nominated by Wine Enthusiast magazine for the 2013 Rising Star award to be presented in January 2014 in New York City.

Governor Bob McDonnell, who was at Trump Winery for its grand opening in October 2011, and has been a big supporter of Virginia's wine industry, noted Eric's nomination:

“Eric Trump is truly a rising star in the global wine industry and could not be more deserving of Wine Enthusiast's Rising Star Award nomination.  We are very pleased that he and his family decided to invest in Virginia's wine industry.  It was clearly the correct decision for both Eric and the Commonwealth.  In just two short years, Eric has significantly expanded the distribution of Trump wines both nationally and internationally, while elevating the overall integrity of the wines.  I'm confident that Eric and the team at Trump Winery will continue to raise the bar for Virginia wines in the coming years.  I wish him good luck at the award ceremony in January.”

Eric's plans are to continue building and widening Trump Winery's reach, commenting on the website:

"We're going to continue to grow; we are going to continue to plant vines, we are going to continue to expand our distribution. People love the Trump brand and our wines. They love what we stand for, what we're doing, and most importantly, we're having a lot of fun doing it. There is a lot more to come from Trump Winery."

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's good to have the Trumps in Virginia's wine country.