As a life-long creator, innovator, and food scientist, Chaim
Gur-Arieh has always sought out new products and better ways of delivering
products to customers.
It might be a natural progression that after opening a
winery, C.G. Di Arie, in 1998 that he would focus on wine delivery. Small
production wineries like Di Arie often rely on restaurant sales. Gur-Arieh
found an industry rife with inefficiencies he’s now trying to change.
“To me making wine is easy, quite easy,” he said during a
recent Indianapolis visit. “I’ve been in the food business for 35 years, on
product development side. I make wine but I’ve got to sell it. Selling it is
more of a challenge.
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| Chaim drawing a pour of Syrah from Pure Eatery in Indy. |
“I sell a restaurant a case of wine, it goes onto the wine
list but they may have another 100 wines. So I may sell them a case every three
months. But the wines that sell the most are the wines by the glass and my
wines are little more expensive than most wines by the glass. My wines retail
at $18-$35 a bottle”
So Gur-Arieh wanted to develop cost efficiency for the
winery and the retailer. “When you open a bottle of wine by the glass, you have
a preservation problem. If you don’t sell the bottle, and a bottle is four to
five glasses of wine or you don’t sell it that day, it loses quality.”
So Gur-Arieh penchant for development and innovation took
over and launched his wine by the tap delivery system. Essentially the system
is not unlike others boxed-wine delivery systems. It has wine vacuum sealed in
a plastic bag, inside a cardboard “keg” with a draw tap for a restaurant bar or
serving area. He developed the seal between the tap and bag which makes his
product different than others.
He has the system in place in three Indiana restaurants,
including Pure Eatery in Indianapolis’ Fountain Square neighborhood. He has
three in Chicago and four in California. But this man doesn’t think small. He
hopes to have the system in place in up to 100 restaurants this year and 500
establishments by the end of 2014.
“I can put a quality wine in a keg,” Gur-Arieh said. “I
think the retailer has to change his thought process. Right now they want to
charge the cost of a glass, same as cost of a bottle. They open a bottle and
don’t know if they’re going to cover their cost. They have to change their mentality;
they have to think of more modest margins. This system eliminates the risk.”
The Turkey native guarantees his wine for a year until each
keg is opened. He extends the warranty for 60 days once each “keg” has been
tapped.
Gur-Arieh’s winery is in the Sierra Foothills region of
California. He produces a variety of wines including Sauv Blanc, Verdelho,
Roussane, Zinfandel, Syrah, Primitivo, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Cab Franc, Petit
Verdot, and a number of blends. His winemaking philosophy is for very drinkable
fruit-forward wines with great balance and low acidity and tannins. He also
thinks it’s important to keep his wines’ alcohol levels in check. A taste of
his Syrah and Zinfandel from the keg’s tap mirrored the description.
It’s important to include a little bit of Gur-Arieh’s
background as a food product developer. You may or may not have ever tried his
wines but the odds are very high you’ve tasted other products he has brought to
market. He’s best known as the man behind Cap’n Crunch Cereal but also helped
bring Hidden Valley Ranch and Power Bars to market.
C.G. Arie Wines are distributed in Indiana by World ofWines, Indianapolis.
Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com
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