A toast to Sir Norman Foster’s first winery

When one thinks of wineries, certain images come to mind: rows and rows of bright green grape vines, a villa or chateau sitting atop a hill, and dark cellars filled with large oak barrels.

In 2006, Spanish winemaker Gruppo Faustino commissioned Foster Associates to design their first modern wine facility in Ribera del Duero, a town that sits on a plateau 800 meters above sea level in Spain’s Castillo y Leon Region 150 kilometers north of Madrid. The area experiences hot summers, limited rainfall and extremely cold and dry winters in a landscape that looks much like the rest of Spain with its reddish brown soil, low lying greenery and a very big sky.

Known for its high-quality red wines, Ribera del Duero has a long tradition of wine-making that dates back to the 12th century. Not surprising, as Spain’s first recorded wine production goes as far back as 3000 years ago, thanks to the Phoenicians who brought in the process and founded what are now the wine-producing cities of Cadiz and Jerez.

Foster’s first winery

The Bodegas Portia is Gruppo Faustino’s first modern winery and Foster’s first winery commission. So intricately did Foster look into the purpose of the facility that his staff worked in Portia through two harvests in order to fully understand the wine-making process and its requirements.

The structure is designed  “trefoil”—configured into three parts like a leaf—possibly mimicking that of a grape leaf, or merely being true to the three main processes of wine-making: fermentation in large vats made from steel; fermentation in the traditional oak barrels; and lastly, fermentation in their bottles. The form of the structure is not the least bit unusual: the building crouches into the ground, embracing the natural topography, and allows it to take advantage of the natural cooling produced by the surrounding earth.

Vineyard’s expansive views

From one of the wings of the building, a ramp allows trucks of harvested grapes to drive up and deposit the yield right into the central hopper so that the harvest moves along the process with the benefit of gravity. This gentle movement is kinder to the grapes and minimizes any damage. The center of the structure houses the blending tanks and is also the facility’s main operations hub. Visitors can go through a gallery that allows guests to view the wine production. Above, a glass-enclosed mezzanine restaurant opens to expansive views of the vineyard.

The concrete structure is clad in Corten Steel, a specially fabricated metal cladding that allows for the natural oxidizing and aging of metal. Its rustic beauty blends with the natural color of the soils and supports the concept of a product improving as it ages. The roof is a series of concrete slabs and ribbing designed to house photovoltaic cells and regulate the internal temperature of the various areas.

Wine production

Inside, long hallways and cavernous spaces of the trefoil branches showcase wine production. Stainless steel vats, oak barrels and walls of stored bottles of wine that look more decorative than industrial, what with a rhythmic ordering of the elements highlighted by dramatic red lighting, lit-up columns and  the extensive use of oakwood strips as wall and ceiling cladding. In true Foster fashion, raw concrete walls and glazed concrete floors give these spaces their masculine edge and the rawness often associated with production facilities. Its visual value is nothing short of remarkable, and its design is symbolic of how the art of wine-making has grown to be quite exceptional in this region.

Foster is currently working on another winery, the established Château Margaux, in the wine estates of Médoc in Bordeaux, France. His initial sketches show little detail, and it is difficult to make out what the final product will be. But seeing the bold and modern Bodegas Portia working the old wine-making tradition makes me wait in eager anticipation for what he will create out of the Chateau Margaux. Have a glass of red while we wait?

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