A weekend away at a vineyard doesn't just about the wine tasting—rather it is an opportunity to a beautiful destination with impressive modern architecture

A weekend away at a vineyard doesn't just have to be about the wine tasting—rather, it should be an opportunity to escape to a beautiful destination that's complete with some impressive modern architecture.

So, whether you're a fan of a full-bodied pinot noir, a zesty chardonnay, or just great design, these modern wineries on the West Coast will soon be on your "go-to" list.

L'Angolo Estate

Location: Newberg, Oregon Architecture: Lever Architecture

Located 45 minutes from Portland on a picturesque 23 acres—just outside of Newberg, Oregon—L'Angolo Estate is a new family-owned winery that was designed by Portland-based firm Lever Architecture. The architects tackled their first winery by creating a sleek and modern tasting room experience that embodies the family’s minimalist approach to wine making.

Set at the top of the vineyard, the tasting room opens up to the valley with a structural wood-glazing system that provides guests with stunning panoramic views.

Inspired by the canopied, native oak trees that populate the valley, two cantilevered roof structures interlock at the tasting room's entryway. The material palette is limited to Douglas fir, exterior-cedar siding, and dark-anodized aluminum.

Two large sliding doors centered with the tasting room bar bring the vineyard into the space, while also serving as a passive cooling system in the summer when used in tandem with the upper clerestory windows.

Sokol Blosser

Location: Dundee Hills, Oregon Architecture: Allied Works

The Sokol Blosser family, one of the founders of Oregon’s wine-making industry, has been producing pinot noir, pinot gris, and other varietals since 1978. When the winery commissioned Allied Works to design a new tasting room and event space for the 100-acre estate, they devised a structure composed of three interconnected volumes to showcase the surrounding landscape and spectacular views of the Yamhill Valley. The new tasting room incorporates a number of green features and is the first winery in the U.S. designed to comply with the key components of the Living Building Challenge (LBC).

The building is unified by striated wood cladding that presents a new, organic architectural form inspired by the vineyard's rows, along with the vernacular wood agricultural buildings of the region.

A main tasting room occupies the center of the new building and includes a bar, outdoor terrace, seating area, and hearth. A library and kitchen flank the tasting room and offer a range of scales and spatial qualities for gathering and wine tasting.

Law Estate Wines

Location: Paso Robles, California Architecture: BAR Architects

Situated on a 55-acre site with full panoramic views of the breathtaking countryside, the design of Law Estates Wines reflects the wine-making characteristics that distinguish them from other producers in the Paso Robles region. Much like their focus on showcasing the natural characteristics of each varietal and the specific territory in which they were grown, the minimalist building responds directly to the natural materials of the site, its hillside topography, and climatic influences of the sun and wind.

The design is contextually modern and expressive of the various uses contained within the winery.

The winery was designed by BAR Architects using Scott Hawley’s wine-making concepts and a clean and contemporary aesthetic.

The design is focused on the unobstructed views of the estate's vineyard, along with a simple process flow for its handcrafted approach to wine making.

BRAND

Location: Napa Valley, California Architecture: Signum Architecture

Designed by Juancarlos Fernandez of Signum Architecture, the tasting room for the BRAND winery creates a striking silhouette. Simple and unadorned, the corrugated-metal building is set atop tall concrete foundation walls, with a welcoming, wrap-around porch to shelter guests from the hot summer sun and winter rains that are characteristic of California's Napa Valley. Inside, exposed-wood beams soften and warm the space, creating a lodge-like atmosphere.

To avoid the typical white barn form commonly found throughout Napa Valley, Fernandez turned to the rustic architectural traditions of western mining communities for inspiration.

Steep roofs and tall internal spaces provide a barn-like simplicity and facilitate an efficient, multi-level design.

A wrap-around porch shelters visitors from the hot summer sun and protects from the winter rains that are characteristic of Napa Valley.

Dominus Estate

Location: Napa Valley, California Architecture: Herzog + De Meuron

Private and difficult to visit, Dominus Estate has also been dubbed "the stealth winery," as the structure is barely discernible from the foothills and vineyards. Completed in 1997, the Dominus winery was the first U.S. project designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog + De Meuron. The structure draws more inspiration from Miesian modernism and brutalist influences than traditional winery architecture.

Completed in 1997, the Dominus Estate was the first project built in the United States by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog + de Meuron. The design team used a variety of industrial materials throughout the structure. After ascending the stairwell to the second level, one is met by brutalist, concrete floors, a wire-mesh ceiling, floor-to-ceiling glass, and sunlight that shines through the gabions. A varnished-wood handrail contrasts with the metal, stone, and glass, adding warmth to the otherwise cool setting.

Upon entering the winery, visitors are met with a minimalist hall and an unobstructed route through the structure.

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