Sta. Rita Hills Winery
Buellton, California
The Sta. Rita Hills is a small appellation located in the western portion of California’s Santa Ynez Valley, not too far from the ocean and its cooling influence. It is wine country with landscapes perfect for growing cool-weather varieties such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Two weathering-steel-clad barns house the primary winery functions for fermentation and barrel storage, separated by an open-air, covered crush pad. These barns leverage pre-engineered building components assembled to provide both shaded work areas and ample daylight in interior spaces. The open-air fermentation area offers 64 tons of fermenting capacity with additional floor space available for expansion. The design reflects the simplicity and flexibility of a space built by a farmer to meet essential operational needs.
The barrel storage building, which houses just under 1,000 barrels for white and red aging and is accessible to both the crush pad and the fermentation room, is flanked on the north end by two levels of business operations space. This area overlooks the front vineyard block and includes offices, a meeting room, restrooms, and a break room that opens to an exterior courtyard overlooking the vineyard.
Embracing energy efficiency, the entire winery will feature integrated night-air cooling, and a roof-mounted, south- and west-facing photovoltaic array will minimize reliance on utility-provided energy. The simple palette of robust, durable materials—including a painted steel structure, both corrugated and flat weathering steel, and reclaimed redwood—has been selected for its regional availability, its ability to withstand the dry climate, and its environmental authenticity.
The first structure built in support of vineyard operations was the Vineyard Storage Barn. This steel and corrugated perforated steel building rests at the base of the vineyard, providing storage space for maintenance equipment, farming vehicles, and agricultural supplies.
