The Architecture of Wine

The making of quality wine is a complex endeavor, dependent on careful decisions and the management of many real and unpredictable conditions. The soil, topography and climate combine their influences to create, what the French call, terroir (tare-WAH). The experience of the winemaker, the skilled hands of field workers and terroir all find their voice in the bottle. The combination of all of these factors could be described as a form of cultural geography.

Similarly, architecture is born from the earth in much the same way. Architectural styles, like wine, are also directed by cultural geography. For example, if a climate is snowy, steep roof pitches will help avoid the dangerous build-up of rooftop ice. If clay is abundant in the soil, workers can shape it over their thighs to form roof tiles that effectively shed rainwater. If the soil is rocky, boulders can be excavated and used to build foundations, columns and walls. Over time, these practical decisions coalesce into architectural styles. Construction technologies have enabled architects to recreate and transplant styles, detached from their original context.

One new architectural style that is quickly gaining popularity in residential design is something we call Wine Country Chic. Inspired by agrarian structures in Europe and America (or in wine jargon, “old world” and “new world”) the style employs heavy stone elements found in Tuscany (Northern Italy) and Provence (Southern France) alongside lighter, more contemporary applications of vertical board-and-batt siding and metal roofs; inexpensive materials often found in American farmhouses.

These rustic, rural forms and materials from wine country evoke visions of undulating vineyards and bucolic landscapes. This blending of European tradition with American innovation affects winemaking and the architecture of wine regions.

Over the last 15 years there has been a 50% increase** in wine consumption in the U.S. and with it, a growing interest in wine tasting as an excursion or vacation destination. More and more wineries are turning to innovative architectural design as a way to attract customers to their tasting rooms (and their wine clubs) amidst the backdrop of vineyards and dusty soil.

Contact us to find out where new wine-country-inspired WHA homes are being built.
Cheers.

** The 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting competition put California on the wine map when two Napa Valley wines beat the French in both White and Red categories.  Years later, popular movies like “Sideways” and “Bottle Shock” and documentaries like “Somm” continued that momentum of legitimacy and inspires a younger generation of wine lovers. Source: https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86