If there was a single word which could describe C.G. Di Arie, it would be innovative. Participating in Sample the Sierra for the first time this year, C.G. Di Arie is a thoughtfully run and highly successful winery which has produced several award-winning wines and is a highly welcome addition to the festival’s usual lineup.
Established 13 years ago, this winery has taken every advantage to improve the wine it produces. Its founders and current owners, Chaim and Elisheva GurArieh, evaluated the land they purchased before even beginning the winery they have today.
They ensured it possessed the proper climate, elevation, soil, and even landscape; enabling them to employ a variety of strategies and viticultural practices in the production of their wine.
From taking advantage of gravity itself to aide the health of the fruit they grow and sorting the best grapes from those which are immature and harsh-tasting, to harvesting their crops multiple times so as to produce the best results and acquiring grape vine clones from some of the best suppliers thereof in the world.
In fact, the owners even consult with their growers to discuss
the most appropriate strategies for each harvest.
The owners also make use of 2 acres from a nearby property known as
“The Original Grandpére Vineyard” in the Shenandoah Valley.
This property, established over 140 years ago,
constitutes the oldest living Zinfandel vineyard in America
and is primarily used to grow the
Southern Exposure Zinfandel which C.G. Di Arie produces.
Such methods of property and viticultural management are largely possible
due to the purpose of the vineyard itself,
which is a place for the owners to pursue interests beyond the careers they had in the past.
The winery itself is located at
19919 Shenandoah School Road in Plymouth, California.
Examples of its fine work, however,
can be even more easily tasted at this year’s Sample the Sierra,
where C.G. Di Arie will have its own booth to exemplify its
innovative and thoughtful viticultural products.
Both Chaim and Elisheva Gur-Arieh have expansive and varied lists of successes they have achieved in their lives,
from military service to world-renowned art exhibition.
Having now retired from the careers they used to pursue,
this couple set their sites on the practice of winemaking and art alone.
C.G. Di Arie is now a highly successful vineyard and a special art gallery
which displays the Gur-Ariehs’ impressive collection of fine art– the perfect accompaniment for the wines which it offers in its tasting room every weekend from Friday to Monday, 11:00 am – 4:30 pm.
