wine of fire cost
Trump Winery is facing backlash from critics and federal ethics experts from both parties after it emerged the Virginia vineyard applied for temporary visas for foreign workers earlier this month. The winemaking operation, also known as Trump Vineyard Estates, applied for six H-2A visas for temporary jobs valid from Jan. 31 through June 30 of this year. According to the New York Post, the winery’s petition said the workers would be required to lift up to 80 pounds, would be exposed to “extreme” temperatures while the job would also involve “extensive walking” and “frequent stooping.” THE WEEK IN PICTURES Donald Trump purchased the estate in 2011 and gave it to his son Eric, who now owns and manages the property. Though he is no longer involved in the daily operations of the winery, when he becomes president in January, Trump's Labor Department would be responsible for reviewing the winery's request. During the campaign, the President-elect vowed to tighten immigration policy and make jobs available for Americans.
His son also touted the same goals. “We’re losing all of our jobs, people are working harder, we’re being taxed more, all of our jobs are going overseas. It’s just a very, very sad thing,” Eric Trump told Fox News in September. The H-2A visa is intended for unskilled or skilled laborers to work in the U.S. on a seasonal basis. For workers to qualify for H-2A classification, the petitioner must demonstrate that there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified, or available to do the temporary work. CAN YOU REALLY BUY TRUMP STEAKS? THE REAL DEAL WITH TRUMP’S FOOD EMPIRE CBS Miami reported that at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, between 70-90 H-2B visas have been requested per year since 2008 for jobs with a starting pay between $10 and $12 an hour. As recently as July, the club requested nearly 80 H-2B visas for housekeepers, waiters and cooks for the Palm Beach resort and for the Trump National Jupiter golf course, also in Florida. In a presidential debate in March, Trump explained the need for hiring foreign workers at his Palm Beach property, saying, “it's very, very hard to get help.”
Norm Eisen, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution who was chief White House ethics lawyer for President Obama from 2009 to 2011 told the Washington Post the position was, “a classic conflict of interest.” FOR THE LATEST FOOD FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK NOW! “It’s critically important that these [types of requests] be handled by career employees in federal agencies who have civil service protections,” Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, and former White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, told the Post. “Anyone appointed by him should be required to recuse themselves. It’s not required by law, but he should do it anyway.” Following the central theme of Trump's campaign promises touting bringing jobs back to the U.S.-- and punishing companies which take operations away from the country-- many on social media responded by calling the Trumps' decision to apply for more foreign worker visas hypocritical.
#lyingliar #trump.— Andrew Zicklin (@Reach_Far) December 23, 2016 Trump Winery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Robin Williams' Lingering Legacy: A Napa Valley Wine Estate ZillowRobin Williams' custom-built mansion is set amid the vines of a working winery.APRobin WilliamsThe swirl of speculation that's followed the untimely death of Robin Williams has spread to his financial health at the time of the comedian and actor's suicide last week. And much of the attention has focused on a luxurious property in California's Napa Valley that he'd been attempting to sell since 2012. The 654-acre vineyard estate had recently returned to the market with a $5.5 million discount. Williams originally priced the property located between the towns of Napa and Sonoma at $35 million, admitting that he felt that he could no longer afford it. Williams then took it off the market before relisting it in April at $29.5 million. Although it's a working winery, the main house that Williams built on the property at the beginning of the century is anything but workmanlike, with the 20,000-square-foot custom-designed mansion being constructed of Portuguese limestone, and featuring an oak-paneled library, a climate-controlled environment for art and wine, and a bell tower.
And along with popular luxury amenities like a screening room and infinity pool at the five-bedroom, 12-bathroom, Mediterranean-style home, there's a guesthouse, a stable and a fishpond. The Zillow blog further reports that aside from the Sauvignon blanc grapes on its farm acreage, there's a grove of olive trees. So was the estate that Williams dubbed Villa Sorriso (or "Villa of Smiles") an eventual sorrow for him? Attorney Danielle Mayoras, co-author of Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights, told ABC News that divorces had left Williams still rich in real-estate holdings but "cash poor." Forbes magazine, however, cited estimates that put his estate's net worth at the time of his death at $50 million, with $25 million of that in real estate. Williams' publicist has discounted any claims that the entertainer was in any financial peril, declaring in a statement that those reports are "simply false," and saying of Williams decision to end his life: "I understand people's desire to try and understand this, but we would encourage your focus be on working to help others and understand depression."
As for the fortunes of properties like Villa Sorriso in the Napa Valley, some of the luster appears to have faded from owning a wine estate. The rich and picturesque agricultural region didn't escape the impact of Great Recession on property values: Real estate prices had skyrocketed there in the housing boom that preceded it, in part due to an influx of "gentleman farmers" like Williams. And the bigger the properties are, the tougher they seem to be to sell. Former 49er football star Joe Montana slashed the price on his Sonoma County estate from $49 million to $35 million in 2012, after it had already lingered on the market for years. And the Robert Mondavi estate, originally listed at $25 million in 2010, was put up for auction at a starting bid of about half that 18 months later, and sold for an undisclosed price. Want more news like this? Sign up for Finance Report by AOL and get everything from business news to personal finance tips delivered directly to your inbox daily!
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