A few years ago, Kistler Vineyards asked Architectural Resources Group to revamp a historic farmhouse at its Forestville vineyard into its first tasting venue. It was so popular that they were turning away 60 percent of requests for tastings, so they asked ARG to create a small winemaking facility with a second tasting room.
To do so, ARG dismantled and reconstructed the site's original barn, adjacent to the property's lake. This new design combines the barn's rustic aesthetic with contemporary elements reflecting Kistler's brand.
The client asked ARG to celebrate Kistler's unique fermentation process, in which wine bubbles out of barrels onto the ground. In response, ARG created multiple glazed openings along the tasting room walls to give visitors views into the fermentation and barrel storage areas on either side. ARG supplemented the dismantled barn siding with salvaged wood from other local sources to serve as interior wall and ceiling finishes. The color of the chairs and the fourteen-foot-high tall metal doors matches the color of the foil on Kistler's Pinot Noir bottles. The barrel rooms' refrigeration and humidification piping emerges at the exterior, flanking the lakeside doors. The facility also includes a catering kitchen, office, and outdoor fire pit.
Photography: David Wakely