Dominus Winery, Vineyard house in Yountville, United States
Dominus Winery is a vineyard house in Yountville with distinctive gabion walls made of local stones held in wire mesh cages. The building contains a fermentation room with chrome tanks, a barrel aging chamber with oak barrels, and storage spaces for wine.
Christian Moueix founded the winery in 1998 after recognizing the potential of the Napanook vineyard during a 1981 visit to Napa Valley. The establishment marked the transition from an undeveloped agricultural site into a recognized wine production facility with contemporary architecture.
The building design by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron shows how contemporary architecture dialogues with winemaking traditions in the region. Visitors walk through spaces where industrial forms meet the everyday work of producing wine, creating an unexpected visual experience.
Take time to view both the exterior facade and interior spaces, as the light filtering through the stone walls changes throughout the day. Morning or late afternoon visits offer the best natural lighting to appreciate the gabion walls and how they function as both structure and light filter.
The stone walls use varied sizes where smaller stones provide insulation while larger ones allow light penetration into the building. This clever system shows how the structure itself functions as an active part of winemaking rather than simply enclosing the work.
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