hamel Family Winery

The small, family-owned and operated Hamel Family Wines is a completely new, 15,000-case winemaking facility on a 124 acre parcel nestled between the mountains and fertile valley of Sonoma, CA. An example of the design's integrated sustainability is a pair of rammed earth walls which guides visitors along a few key areas of interest. The Estate House includes approximately 1,875 square feet of administration space supporting marketing/sales and about 5,000 square feet of hospitality space constituting a public tasting room, private (VIP) tasting room, restrooms, General Manager's office and a commercial kitchen for VIP food pairings. Barrel storage occurs in an adjacent wine cave, a tradition dating back to the 1870's in Northern California. The cave keeps a naturally consistent and optimal temperature (approximately 58 degrees fahrenheit) for barrel aging. The Winery Building is positioned deep into the site at the foot of the Mayacama Mountain range, and essentially out of view from the public right of way. While primarily for fermentation, this building also houses a vintner's office, vintner's laboratory, technical tasting room and an employee break room (housed in a smaller extension on the west side of the Winery). Byungki Kim was project architect for Gould Evans.