Wineries

Top 10 most beautiful wineries

Wineries - Discover a BAM selection

Thanks to the rise of wine tourism and the international development of new vineyards around the world, wineries are becoming increasingly innovative. Real experiences are being created around the estate and its production, in order to develop new economic levers. One way of doing this is through architecture, which contributes to the experience and embodies the uniqueness of the place. From Napa Valley in California, to Bordeaux in France, to the vineyards of Stellenbosch in South Africa... Many architects design wineries with a strong personality that forges the identity of the place. BAM has selected its 10 favorite contemporary wineries.

Contents – Top 10 most beautiful wineries :

Antinori nel Chianti Classico – Bargino, Italy
Château Lacoste – Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France
Lahofer winery – Dobšice, Czech Republic
California’s Dominus Estate – Yountville, California
Le Dôme – Saint-Emilion, France
Dornier Wine EstateLocation – Stellenbosch, South Africa
Bodega Mont-Ras – Mont-Ras, Spain
VIK Winery – Millahue, Chile
Château cheval blanc – Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux
Shilda winery – Kvareli, Georgia

Antinori nel Chianti Classico - Bargino, Italie

Halfway between Siena and Florence, in the heart of the Chianti mountains, lies the winery La Cantina Antinori nel Chianti Classico.
Although massive, the 50,000-square-meter building, designed by Italian architects Archea, was conceived to blend into the Italian landscape.

The stepped, vegetation-covered roof follows the slope of the hill.
As a result, when viewed from above, it is only the holes in the roof that reveal the presence of the building.
These openings also bring natural light down to the lowest underground levels.
In fact, half of the building is located underground, so as to leave plenty of room for the surrounding natural environment. Finally, the use of natural regional materials such as stone and Imprunet terracotta brick, combined with copper-plated Corten, allows the building to blend into this landscape of earth and vines.

Photo credit: Antinori nel Chianti Classico

How we helped the Rothschild family renovate and extend their winery: Château Lafite Rothschild .

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Château Lacoste - Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France

A world-famous wine estate, Château Lacoste is located just a few kilometers from Aix-en-Provence. A wine estate and art center, Château Lacoste is above all a remarkable work of architecture.
Indeed, some of the greatest architects of the 20th and 21st centuries have collaborated on its various spaces.

Thus, the winery by the famous French architect Jean Nouvel (Fondation Cartier, Quai Branly…). Futuristic structures, these immense half-cylinders emerge from the ground like stainless steel vats and are covered with corrugated steel sheets.
Through vineyards and pinewoods, Château Lacoste offers access to numerous cultural and artistic spaces.
These include a contemporary art center, a music pavilion and exhibition pavilions.
You’ll stroll through buildings designed by Tadao Ando, Franck Gehry, Renzo Piano, Oscar Niemeyer and Richard Rogers (no less!). Thearchitecture of the estate offers a unique play of light and reflections, thanks to the numerous glass openings.
Indeed, the glass roofs of the music pavilion and the water mirror contrast with the rough concrete structures of the various “works-buildings”.

Photo credits: Château Lacoste

Lahofer winery - Dobšice, République Tchèque

It’s in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic, that we find ourselves to discover the Lahofer winery, designed by the architectural firm CHYBIK + KRISTOF.
The architects decided to pay homage to the ancient vaulted wine cellars of Moravia.
They reinterpreted this curved motif as a singular architectural gesture.
The curves punctuate the ceiling, creating a unique and interesting perspective.

For the interior of the building, CHYBIK + KRISTOF decided to give pride of place to sober materials.
Wood, concrete and glass emphasize the building’s lines.
In addition, a large-scale mural by contemporary Czech artist Patrik Hábl covers the entire ceiling.
Its irregular, scattered brushstrokes, ranging from earthy reds and blacks to browns and beiges, recall the terroir.
Finally, the wave-shaped roof is topped with concreteundulations that serve as benches to create an amphitheatre for concerts and cultural events in the grounds.
What’s more, it creates a veritable balcony overlooking the vineyards, offering a unique view of the vines as far as the eye can see.

Photo credit: Alex shoots building

California’s Dominus Estate - Yountville, Californie

It was in California’s famous Napa Valley that Christian Moeuix, a famous Bordeaux wine producer, decided in 1995 to set up his new project, sensitive to the region’s unrivalled grape quality.

Designed by star architects Herzog & de Meuron, this monolithic block is composed of 3 spaces.
Each corresponds to one of the key stages in wine production ( first fermentation, barrel aging,bottlingandstorage).
These three spaces are covered by a mineral envelope made of basalt stones of various sizes, in gabions.
This creates a natural link with the winery‘s mountainous environment.
What’s more, as the project’s architects explain, it’s “a reinterpretation of traditionalmasonry construction” that will facilitate building ventilation.

Photo credits: Yueqi Jazzy Li / Herzog et Demeuron / Dominus Estate

Le Dôme - Saint-Emilion, France

The magnificent Le Dôme winery, designed by Foster + Partners, is located just outside the listed village of Saint-Emilion.
With its circular shape, the building blends seamlessly into the landscape, like a small hill in the middle of the gently sloping Bordeaux vineyards.

This harmony with theenvironment is accentuated by the use of natural materials.
These include wood, recycled terracotta tiles, local aggregates for the concrete and glass.
The structure is made of concrete, but is entirely covered in wood, as is the 40-meter-diameter roof.
At its center is a 6-meter-diameter oculus.
This lets natural light into the building. Finally, this circularity structures not only the floor plan of the building, but also the entire visitor path, which leads up to the Dome via a circular ramp.
Following the ramp, visitors enjoy a 360° view of the surrounding landscape.
In addition, they can discover the different phases of wine production, including the vat room.

Photo credit: Nigel Young

Dornier Wine EstateLieu - Stellenbosch, Afrique du Sud

Surrounded by mountains in the heart of South Africa’s Stellenbosch wine-growing valley, lies Domaine Dornier.
The architect of this magnificent and astonishing building is none other than its owner, Christophe Donier.
In the early 2000s, this multi-hatted entrepreneur explained that he wanted to create an innovative and creative estate in a region that was still very traditional.
This modernity is evident not only in the wine production, but also in the curves of his building, which he wanted to give a “loft” style.
The curved roof and use of brick are in keeping with this architectural direction, while integrating the building perfectly into its surroundings.

Photo credits: Dornier wine estate

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Bodega Mont-Ras - Mont-Ras, Espagne

Designed by Spanish architects Jorge Vidal and Victor Rahola, this is a creation that perfectly blends rustic tradition with brutalist modernity.
In fact, it’s a project that plays on the symmetry of its spaces.
This makes it all the more original, creating a calm, structured atmosphere.

Organized around a central tunnel serving the building’ s four zones ( farm tools, fermentation, ageing and tasting areas).
In addition, this circulation space allows direct access to the vineyard from any area of the building, via a succession of vertical vaults.
These punctuate the structure from east to west, and also let in natural light.
Nature is omnipresent in and around the building.
As a result, the cellars have been buried underground to take advantage of stable humidity and temperature to preserve the wine.
In addition, the materials used, such as brick and wood, were kept neutral.
Last but not least, the structure supports a green roof to ensure that the building blends seamlessly into its surroundings.

Photo credit: Danae Santibañez

VIK Winery - Millahue, Chili

In Chile’s Millahue Valley, close to the Andes, lies this incredible winery with its avant-garde, eco-friendly design by Chilean architects Smiljan Radić and Loreto Lyon.

The guiding principle of this estate was to have as little impact as possible on the landscape, while offering cutting-edge technological solutions in a uniquely designed space.
The building’s entrance offers a unique architectural gesture, welcoming visitors via a large water esplanade punctuated by sculptures, like large gold nuggets.
Finally, it’s the roof that gives the building its lightness.
It’s a stretched canvas, like a large white wing, covering the entire underground cellar.

Photo credits: Cristobal Palma / Estudio Palma

Château cheval blanc - Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux

Certainly one of the best-known estates in the Bordeaux region, and also internationally renowned, we’re talking about Château Cheval Blanc in Saint-Emilion.

Many Bordeaux wineries arearchitecturally daring, but this one, designed by Christian de Portzamparc, is a UFO, like a ship that has landed in this winegrowing landscape.
T he Cheval Blanc winery rises out of the ground like an uplift, underlined by two waves of white concrete“, as the winery explains.
The building is characterized by the purity and simplicity of its lines.
Certified by the Haute Qualité Environnementale( H.Q.E.) label, the building is made up of four planted concrete sails that soberly and harmoniously cover the different areas of the winery.

Photo credit: Erick Saillet / Max Botton

Shilda winery - Kvareli, Géorgie

Located in one of the world’s cradles of wine, the Shilda winery lies in the heart of the Alazani valley, south of the Caucasus mountains.
Currently under construction and designed by English studio X-Architecture, it is one of the most architecturally astonishing wineries in the world.

Like waves that have sprung up from the ground, the estate is made up of three buildings that form small hills and provide space for wine tasting, wine storage and wine knowledge sharing.
Perfectly integrated into the landscape, surrounded by a sea of vines, the estate ‘s terraced architecture offers magnificent views of the surrounding countryside.
The innovative character of the building lies in the fusion of elements with nature.
The steel structure and large bay windows create a building of pure curves, almost oblivious to the vines.