Santa Ynez Valley Winery | Clayton Korte

Preserving the innate, natural beauty of the valley and its rolling hills, most of the hospitality program and all of the barrel storage spaces are embedded into the hillside or below grade, allowing the exposed areas to read as simple stone walls and the winery fermentation “barn” to literally blend into the surroundings. The tasting room and its support space enjoys an indoor-outdoor flow and a strong connection to winery operations, the caves, with connecting terraces that heightens the visitor’s immersion into the ranch.

Incorporating the native stone walls that slide out of the hill and through the Fermentation Hall, the winery is comprised of multiple spaces assembled below a large steel-framed roof to provide both shaded work areas and ample daylight to interiors. Fermentation space includes 64-tons of fermentation capacity with available platform and floor space to expand.

The ventilated subterranean caves leverage the natural soil temperature of the earth to help minimize mechanical cooling needs and provide storage for over 1,000 barrels. Larger Bordeaux-style stacked rooms are joined by a wine library “bridge” holding several vintages of each varietal.

A southern-facing photovoltaic array will minimize reliance on utility provided energy, generating enough power annually to take the winery and adjacent vineyard barn off-grid.