You Should Probably Not Drink Rupert Murdoch’s Cabernet

by evanmcmurry

In what’s become a series on this blog of pieces on wine you probably shouldn’t uncork—see previous entries on the Boston Red Sox’ 2011 cabernet and Hitler cab Franc—we now bring you Rupert Murdoch Presents Alcoholic Grape Drink:

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch is closing a $28.8-million deal to buy the Moraga Vineyards estate and winery in Los Angeles’s Bel Air neighborhood, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which Murdoch owns.

The Vineyard is 13-acres and includes a 7,500-square-foot home, staff quarters, a tasting room and wine cave, and a 2,300-square-foot winery that produces about 1,500 cases a year.  It was originally built and owned by Victor Fleming, director of Gone with the Wind andThe Wizard of Oz.

Unlike most vineyards, Moraga simply produces one red and one white wine each year. It’s ‘Red’ is produced from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a small amount of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; the 2007, which last year won a Sommerlier’s Choice award, goes for $125 a bottle. It’s ‘White’ is a Sauvignon Blanc; the 2010 goes for $65 a bottle.

That red blend actually sounds delicious, and I’m jealous of the WSJ writers who will probably get to pop bottles of this instead of office beer every time someone has a going away party. But I just don’t trust Los Angeles’ soil for this complex of a blend Rupert Murdoch. Do you really want to quaff the New York Post of wines?