Liza Fierro-Cioffi and Eric Cioffi (Courtesy Courthouse Creek social media)
A decade-old cidery in the western part of the region is turning off its taps as its founders plan to continue venturing west, all the way to the West Coast.
Courthouse Creek Cider in Goochland County closed for business earlier this month.
Married couple Liza Fierro-Cioffi and Eric Cioffi opened Courthouse Creek in 2016, a few years after they’d planted an apple orchard on their land at 1581 Maidens Road. The 10-acre farm just north of Route 6 served as Courthouse Creek’s home base, where it produced and barrel-aged all of its ciders. Its calling card was its use of all farm-grown ingredients for its ciders.
But now the Cioffis are preparing to retire and move back to their hometown along California’s Central Coast. Eric, who had a day job as a lawyer, said they’re moving to be closer to family.
“We could have kept going and chugging along, but I’ll turn 57 next week, and you know, man, life starts getting shorter and shorter. I need to focus on health and spend more time traveling and relaxing,” he said. “It’s really bittersweet. We built an awesome community there, and I know we’re going to miss it. But the thought of going overseas and traveling and living a more carefree life is good.”
The Cioffis and Courthouse Creek certainly had their ups and downs over the years.
In 2017, their home, which was adjacent to the cidery, was destroyed in a fire. They decided to rebuild the house, and while they were at it built an expansion of the Courthouse Creek tasting room that more than doubled its size. In 2018, they opened a second tasting room in Scott’s Addition, and while that spot closed amid the pandemic in 2021, Cioffi said business at the farm thrived since they had so much outdoor seating and open space during the days of social distancing.
The cidery previously had a taproom in The Highpoint building in Scott’s Addition. (BizSense file photo)
Looking back, Cioffi said he and Liza are able to laugh at all the twists and turns they endured with Courthouse Creek.
“We were kind of chuckling about that. It’s been kind of a wild ride,” he said. “And it was awesome.”
The Cioffis are now preparing to list the Goochland property, which they’ve owned since 2014, as well as the cidery’s business assets for sale with Compass agents Jenny Maraghy and Rob Harris. Cioffi said they’d be glad to see someone come in and continue using it as a hospitality destination, like a farm-to-table restaurant, event space or winery.
“We call it a residence plus asset sale. All of it’s available if somebody wants to rock and roll and do that,” Cioffi said. “If not, they can certainly take their pick on a really good use for the property. The possibilities are endless.”
The property was most recently assessed by the county at $1.2 million.
Before heading west, Cioffi said they packed away a few bottles of Courthouse Creek’s cider to bring with them.
“We’ll be sipping on those for years to come, for sure,” he said.
Courthouse Creek’s closure, which was first reported by Richmond Magazine, is another instance of a year of change in the local cider scene. Over the summer, the founders of Buskey Cider transitioned out of running the Scott’s Addition cidery, and brought in a longtime manager as partner and CEO.
The post Courthouse Creek Cider in Goochland closes as owners look to sell the business and its real estate appeared first on Richmond BizSense.
