This new wine label – founded by a retired lawyer from Northern California who was looking to establish his winery outside of the Napa Valley –  is set in Dundee, in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley AVA. Our client asked us to design a small hospitality building and a custom crush production facility on two neighboring parcels.

The two parcels that are home to the Ambar Estate tasting room and custom crush production facility are conveniently located just a stone’s throw apart. The smaller parcel—set between the main road and the adjacent woodlands, surrounded by vineyards, with views of pine woodlands in the mid-ground and Mt. Hood in the distance—houses the label's new hospitality facility. 

The overarching goal for this small project was to create an intimate setting for visitors to experience both the wine and the land from which it springs. Nestled into the the downhill sloping site, and set at a small distance from the owner's own residence, the new hospitality facility is broken up into three small pavilions. The effect is serene, welcoming and distinctly residential in scale. The three structure encircle a mature redwood tree, which acts as the project’s organizing principle. 

The three structures, which total 2,520 square feet, house the main tasting room, employee and administrative space, and space dedicated to private tastings. Serene gardens by landscape architect Hoichi Kurisu⁠ form a quiet, contemplative inner landscape.

To protect the roots of the heritage redwood tree, we set the building foundations at the elevation of the tree which, due to the gentle slope of the site, raises the buildings up on a two-foot plinth overlooking the vineyards. Low, sloping roof lines, clean architectural lines and glass doors that subtly invoke the rhythm of traditional shoji screens reflect the owner’s appreciation for the restrained aesthetic of Japanese design.