Guado al Tasso Winery

The site of the new winery, or rather the demolition of the existing one, with only the barrel cellar retained and the new production areas constructed, is centrally located with respect to the main access roads, the Bolgherese and the Aurelia, and adjacent to the farmhouse, the beating heart of the estate's hospitality activities. The project involves replacing the previous building, characterized by large volumes completely above ground and adjacent spaces with attached canopies, with a new building entirely underground.

The design intent has the dual objective of eliminating the building's impact on the landscape and minimizing the built area through the rationalization of spaces. It is characterized exclusively by partitions, shaped to evoke the natural irregularities emerging from the terrain and identifying the various entrances. The elevation of the barrel room becomes the reference for the new volumes, bringing all the workspaces to the same level. Several ancillary rooms create a connection with the new winemaking spaces, becoming the central hub of the new distribution system. This provides an opportunity to create, on the upper floor, a reception area that, precisely because of its central location, allows a 360° view of all the cellar spaces without interfering with the production processes and the vineyards. The estate produces two wines in this cellar: Guado al Tasso Bolgheri DOC Superiore, the estate's flagship wine, and Matarocchio Bolgheri DOC Superiore, a top-quality wine produced in very small quantities. The winemaking rooms characterize the space differently for each wine.

The choice of an underground building offers additional advantages that go beyond the landscape. Thermal, and therefore energy, losses are reduced thanks to the natural insulating action of the soil. The search for continuity with the soil in which the cellar is embedded also informs the color palette. The pigmented concrete of the load-bearing structure and the raw clay plaster are the key color elements. The pigmented concrete is washed on the outside to enhance its composition, while the interior is left exposed and formed with wooden planks. The shape of the winemaking rooms corresponds to the importance of the wine that rests there. The circular space, inlaid with sub-hammering, imagines the "Wunderkammer" of Matarocchio wine, which is similarly aged in wood in a circular space of the barrel cellar, surrounded by vertical panels with a bronze finish that, like the drapes of a market returning from the East, enclose its precious treasures. The use of Canaletto walnut and bronze in the tasting room furnishings recalls the most noble materials in the history and heritage of the Antinori family, who have been producing wine since 1385. The winery is deeply rooted in this land, fully expressing its belonging to this place, just as the Antinori family is rooted in this territory.