Davies Vineyards

St. Helena, California

The Davies family have been renowned as makers of world-class sparkling wines, since acquiring and restoring the historic Schramsberg winery in Calistoga in the mid-1960s.  When the current generation of Hugh and Monique Davies sought to create a new tasting room to highlight their still wines, they purchased a prime location in St Helena, and engaged Osborn Siegert Architects.  Envisioned as a multi-phase project that included a major remodel of a former car dealership into production, barrel storage, and offices, and new construction of a two-story stone tasting room, the L-shaped property presents public faces to St Helena Highway and Greyson Avenue, with demonstration micro-vineyards at each.

To accommodate the phased development of the site, R+R proposed a ‘temporary’ tasting area on the backside of the Greyson building.  Featuring a shade pergola, a custom wood and rusted steel fountain, and hedges of Grecian Bay Laurel to create separation from the crush pad and parking areas.  Pavers are sand-set, and Marina Strawberry Trees and Olives were left in their wooden nursery containers to allow easy re-use in future phases.

On the St Helena Highway frontage along the public sidewalk, mixed plantings of Paroo Lily, Stone Crop and Klenia provide seasonal interest, with Blue Gramma Grass, Purple Smoke Bush and Howard McMinn Manzanita flanking the entry gate.  At the Greyson Avenue entry, Muhly Grass, Flowering Quince, and John Dourley and Emerald Carpet Manzanitas frame the entries.  At both frontages, site walls of Napa fieldstone and Tufa, and gates of rusted steel echo the finishes of the buildings.

Architecture: Osborn Siegert Architecture

Construction: Centric General Contractors

Project Management: Pound Management

Photography: Eileen Roche Photography