The 21-acre family estate of 25 years, situated in the eastern Russian River Valley, has worked to turn the land in their care from a farm, depleted from conventional agricultural practices to a sustainable vineyard supporting a thriving ecosystem. The landscape design team collaborated with the Merriam family, beginning in 2021, on revisioning an outdoor tasting room to welcome visitors and educate people around the importance of working with nature to craft responsible wine. This commitment to stewardship and wine production practices formed the foundation of the renovation narrative and directed the landscape orientation, programming, plantings and surface materials.

The design objective in the master planning of the winery was to improve upon the guest experience, from the entry into the winery and wayfinding to the tasting environments. Relocating the guest and winery parking enabled a new exterior tasting experience to be created adjacent to their existing Tasting Room, while creating a more immersive experience amongst the vines. The renovated Tasting Room, Tasting Terrace and new Garden Rooms provide different microclimates for guests to comfortably experience the wine through the seasons.

Horticultural wayfinding begins at the winery’s entry drive with a strong single row of columnar Hornbeams punctuating the vineyard end rows and leading you to the tasting room parking area. A new allée of antique olives and a rich underplanting of ornamental grasses connect the parking to the tasting room. Bay Laurel hedges define the outdoor rooms and provide a consistent horticultural language of “green walls” defining the guest environments as one moves from room to room. Bosques of Plane trees cover all tasting areas and will, in time, provide the shade required from the Summer and Fall heat of this region. Sited on a hill above Hwy 101, both undesirable views and sound from the freeway are mitigated with the design of a custom stone water wall and basin, enclosing one side of the Tasting Terrace and buffering off-site views and noise.

Enabling visitors to be immersed in the land through these intentional outdoor spaces allows the Merriam Family to showcase their sustainability work on the land more fully. Soil enhancement programs, like sheep grazing between vine rows, become not only a natural solution to fertilizer and weed control, but a dynamic visual reminder of a winery working with nature. The planting design for the property compliments the owners organic farming goals by introducing insectary planting that promotes the health of the vineyards and reduces pesticide use by providing habitat for beneficial insects such as bees, ladybugs, lacewings, and other pest-predators. The insectary palette includes a diverse range of native shrubs, flowering perennials, and wildflowers deliberately chosen for functional purposes across the site.

The landscape architect’s overall vision re interpreted this winery’s existing programmatic components, allowing the harvest and production process to remain unaffected while elevating and greatly expanding the guest experience.

The vineyard continues to employ strategies that align with their mission.

Project Credits:
Client | Merriam Vineyards
Landscape Architect | Munden Fry Landscape Associates
General Contractor | Cello & Maudru Construction
Bertotti Landscaping | Landscape Contractors
Interior Designer | Medium Plenty
Electrical Engineer | MK Engineers Inc.
Structural Engineer | TA Structural
Irrigation Consultant | Dickson & Associates

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