![]() ![]() Perched on a hillside, it boasts spectacular views of the nearby vineyards and the Sierra Foothills. Now, the Gur-Ariehs have a 40-acre vineyard producing world-class wine grapes, with more plantings planned.Ĭhaim and Elisheva also co-designed their cutting-edge, 12,000 square foot winemaking facility, complete with an art gallery. Chaim knew that with proper attention to detail, this rugged and untapped region would be capable of producing grapes that yield superior Estate wines. In 2000, Chaim and Elisheva purchased a 209-acre parcel of land between the south and middle forks of the Cosumnes River and the Shenandoah Valley of the Sierra Foothills and founded their C. Through meeting her artistic friends I developed a passion for wines,” recalls Chaim. “When I met Elisheva she danced ballet and knew little about science. His wife, Elisheva, raised on an Israeli Kibbutz, studied Fine Art and exhibits her work nationally. He forged a 35-year career in food and flavor innovation with Quaker Oats, Del Monte and his own successful companies. degrees in Chemical Engineering, Food Science and Biochemistry. Turkishborn Chaim (pronounced “Haim”) Gur-Arieh earned his B.S., Masters and Ph.D. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery, the founders represent both. When they were ready to open their winery in 2000, they looked to Napa, but then a bat mitzvah they attended in the Shenandoah Valley wine country changed their minds.Winemaking is often defined as a science and an art, and at C.G. While Chaim was busy with his flavor company Food Development Corp., which later merged with California Brands Flavors - and working on such projects as power bars and wine coolers - the couple learned as much as they could about wine. She had developed an appreciation for wine in her 20s, and it continued to grow. Elisheva, an artist and former dancer, helped found Tehiyah Day School, as well as the docent program for the former Judah L. The couple lived in Piedmont with their daughter, Sivan. Her stepfather was Henry Drejer, cantor at Congregation B’nai Emunah for 38 years. In 1974, he married Elisheva, a child of Holocaust survivors (her father was saved by Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara) who had grown up on a kibbutz and came to San Francisco as a teenager. Some years later he moved to California to work at a company developing food for astronauts. The company’s next venture into the cereal market was Cap’n Crunch, with Gur-Arieh at the helm. At 29, he was tapped to lead the project. “I knew extrusion from working at the rubber company for making electrical wires with plastics, and so instead of electrical wires, we could extrude cereal,” Gur-Arieh said. Cereal was culturally foreign to Gur-Arieh, but he was a fast learner and was able to apply what he called “very complicated technology” picked up during his stint at the rubber company. At the time, the company was looking to branch out from oats into the burgeoning breakfast cereal market. He applied to advanced-degree programs in the United States, and when he got an offer from the University of Illinois - tuition paid - he moved there.Īfter completing his master’s and Ph.D., he got a job with Quaker Oats. Dissatisfied with his work, he became intrigued when someone suggested he might like food science. After serving in the Israeli army, he studied chemical engineering at the Technion-Institute of Technology and took a job at a rubber factory. In fact, Chaim’s uncle didn’t show up at the port in Haifa when he arrived, so the boy ended up spending time in a resettlement camp until he finally located his family members.Ĭhaim took the last name Gur-Arieh, “lion cub,” leaving behind the name Mizrachi, so common in Israel “it’s like Smith,” he said. His parents “didn’t know what a miserable life my uncle had, and I didn’t know either,” he said. His parents, who ended up joining him seven years later, felt they had no choice but to let him go.īut the situation there wasn’t all milk and honey. During World War II, when Chaim was just 14, he made a bold decision: He told his family he was going to Israel, where he had an uncle and grandmother in Haifa. ![]()
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