Cheval-Blanc wines are among the best in the famous wine-growing region of Saint-Emilion, so the owners of this production could afford to invite a famous architect - quite in line with the fashion for "wine architecture" of the last ten years. The new facility includes both fermentation and aging workshops as well as elegant public areas. The elongated volume of the building with its curvilinear silhouette echoes the hills of the surrounding area, changed by human hands: vineyards have existed there since the ancient Roman era.
In the center of the building there is a courtyard, protected from the sun and rain by a mezzanine floor. Harvested grapes are brought there, from where they go to the fermentation workshop with vats located on the same level. They were ordered in Italy and have a graceful curvilinear shape, tapering upward, which facilitates the release of gases during fermentation. The appearance of the workshop is not disturbed by numerous pipes: the entire infrastructure is hidden in the vats themselves. Barrels are placed in the basement tier on concrete supports according to the Portzampark project. The vats and barrels are arranged in curved lines that accentuate the complex plan of the building.
On the mezzanine floor, there is a tasting room with a long Corian table. From there you can get to the roof of the winery, partly occupied by a wooden terrace, partly by a garden with blue wildflowers, wild grasses and shrubs. Light enters the interior of the building through the wide balustrades of the terrace with transparent glass surfaces.
The building of Portzamparc faces the very castle of Cheval-Blanc, and, when viewed from there, is almost lost between the green of the vineyards and the green of the garden on its roof.
N. F.
