Valpolicella Negrar Winery

Valpolicella Negrar Winery is located in Lessinia Regional Park, a valuable environmental context which preserves such a historical, archaeological and landscape importance that constitute the starting point for the architectural design.

The design strategy deployed envisages the reconnection of the winery to the landscape and its history with the ultimate goal of its touristic and cultural enhancement. The intervention consists in the realisation of a new building that “embraces” the existing one, acting as a true connective element between architecture and wine landscape.

The functional programme is organised on several levels according to the various phases that characterise the winemaking process and the user routes. At street level is located the entrance, the management offices and the wine shop; on the lower floors we can find the places dedicated to production.
Through a careful study on the alternation of light and darkness, the cellar is designed to offer an immersive sensory experience. Leaving daylight behind, the visitor is called upon to experience a light-dark space. Through a straight and scenically lit corridor, the heart of the building can be reached, according to a sort of catabasis in the belly of the ground. Here the New Cellar can be discovered, characterised by a large vaulted roof made of local stone ashlars, dominated by a zenithal oculus. A light cone invades the space lighting up the barrels and hinting at the sanctity of the place. From here, the route goes further, to the ancient barrel cellar, a real vault in which the centuries-old tradition of winemaking is preserved.

The surface return is designed to ensure a stop in an area dedicated to wine tasting,
dominated by large openings overlooking the surrounding landscape with glimpses of the vineyards and terraced hillsides.