Quixote Winery

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Quixote Winery
image:quixote_winery_logo.gif
Location Napa, California, USA
Appellation Stags Leap District AVA
Other labels Panza
Founded 1996
Key people Carl Doumani and Family, Proprietor; Michael Wolf, Vineyard Manager
Cases/yr 9,000[1]
Known for Quixote Petite Syrah, Panza Cabernet Sauvignon
Varietals Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon
Website http://www.quixotewinery.com
Tasting By appointment

Quixote Winery is a boutique winery in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery is noted not only for ultra-premium organic red wine but for unique, eclectic architecture[2] and label design.

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[edit] Production and facilities

the winery is designed in an unusual architectural style
the winery is designed in an unusual architectural style

Quixote Winery produces Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon varietal wines exclusively, under the "Quixote" and "Panza" labels. Fruit is sourced from the 27 acres (11 ha), organically-farmed Stags’ Leap Ranch estate vineyard that was planted in 1996 located between Stags' Leap Winery and Shafer Vineyards. The ultra-premium wine, which retails at $40 to $65 per bottle,[3] is bottled with screwcaps rather than corks for better quality and storage.[1] The wines are highly rated and receive numerous awards.[4] Food and Wine Magazine rated Quixote one of the twenty best new wineries in the world between 1999 and 2004.[5]

The winery building, including grounds, is the only United States project built by Viennese populist/antimodernist architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser .(1928-2000). [6] Among other unusual touches, the winery is designed in a whimsical, exotic way with fractured ceramic tiles, found objects, postmodern rounded columns, minarets, and deliberately uneven floors designed for their tactile effect on occupants' feet[7][6]. There are no right angles, except in the basement. The design style has been called phantasmagoric[8], psychedelic, and Dr. Seuss-like,[9][10] and also likened to "the creation of a beautifully demented child".[6] The winery structure is dominated by an "onion dome" covered in German gold leaf[7], as well as a living roof topped with grass, bushes, and trees.[7]

[edit] History

2002 Petite Syrah label design
2002 Petite Syrah label design

In 1971, Carl Doumani purchased the historic Stags' Leap Winery. Over two decades he restored the vineyard, winery, and manor house. In 1996, Doumani decided to create a smaller organic and sustainable winery highlighting his much adored varietal, Petite Sirah. He formed a friendship with architect Hundertwasser, with whom he worked to design the winery, after growing impatient with his intended project architect and noticing Hundertwasser's sculptures in a calendar. Partly due to the unusual design process and construction methods, the winery took ten years to complete. Hundertwasser also designed some of the winery's unusual wine labels, and persuaded Doumani to produce the wine with organic grapes.[11] Hundertwasser and Doumani agreed on a design approach that would emphasize that structures, and the people in them, need not be on "the grid", and could instead be close to nature.[6]

Winemakers for Quixote have been Steve Galvan and Mario Monticelli. The Vineyard Manager is Michael Wolf.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Michael Dresser. "Should the cork be saved?", The Baltimore Sun, January 13, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  2. ^ John King. "Napa Valley Architecture: Napa's houses of wine", San Francisco Chronicle, August 24, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. 
  3. ^ Heather Irwin. "Wine Tasting Room of the Week: Quixote Winery", metroactive, November 23, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-11-12. 
  4. ^ James Laube. "Syrah's banner year:in 2002, Rhone Valley grapes star in California", Wine Spectator, January 31, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  5. ^ Richard Nalley. "20 best new wineries", Food and Wine Magazine, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-12-11. 
  6. ^ a b c d Chris Colin. "Where the Winery Itself Is a Little Tipsy", New York Times, February 11, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  7. ^ a b c Now That's a Weird Winery. In Wine Country. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  8. ^ Matt Kramer (2004). New California Wine. Running Press Book Publishers. 
  9. ^ Courtney Cochran. "Dr. Seuss Comes to Napa", Winecountry.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-09. 
  10. ^ Thom Elkjer. "Lovable rogue Carl Doumani has an uncanny knack for getting into just the right amount of trouble", San Francisco Chronicle, April 7, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  11. ^ Louisa Hufstader. "Quixote Winery tilts at glory with Hundertwasser design", Napa Valley Register, March 26, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links