Set among the vineyards of the Uco Valley and facing the Andes, La Vigilia Winery combines four solid volumes of black-pigmented concrete with oxidized metal, controlled natural light and a sequence of spaces that separates the technical demands of wine production from the slower experience of visitors.

 

La Vigilia Winery in Mendoza by González Olsina & Vega Arquitectos is located within The Vines of Mendoza in Los Chacayes, Tunuyán, approximately 85km southwest of the city of Mendoza. Completed in 2022, the 1,700m² winery forms part of a wine and gastronomic destination together with the nearby ROPE Restaurant, with vineyards and the Andes establishing the wider context for the architecture.

The project is conceived around a dual condition: a technically precise production building and, at the same time, a more contemplative setting associated with the culture and temporality of wine. Production, storage, tasting and meeting spaces are therefore organized within a clear system of volumes and circulation routes, while material, light and shadow regulate the transition between the open landscape and the more enclosed interior.

 

Four solid volumes

The public programme is organized around four equidistant volumes of black-pigmented concrete.

They accommodate the entrance hall, tasting room, meeting room and production offices, while a precise internal circulation system connects the different functions and separates the movement of staff from that of visitors.

This organization allows the working areas to operate directly and efficiently, while the visitor route develops more gradually.

The winery is therefore not experienced as a single open hall. A sequence of spaces introduces different levels of enclosure, orientation and visual contact with the production process and the surrounding landscape.

 

A slower route for visitors

The project distinguishes between two forms of arrival.

Access to the productive areas is direct, responding to the operational requirements of the winery. The visitor approach, by contrast, is extended into a deliberate sequence connected with the gardens, vineyards and distant mountain range.

At the main entrance, repeated vertical planes form a semi-covered threshold. Solids and voids establish a measured rhythm of movement, light and shadow before the interior is revealed.

Axis and proportion reinforce the clarity of the route, while the alternating vertical elements give depth to the otherwise low and horizontal composition.

 

Production at the centre

The productive core occupies the centre of the building.

Wine is produced and aged in vessels made of concrete, ceramic and terracotta, creating a working environment where different techniques and stages of the process remain spatially concentrated.

A laboratory is positioned within a Vierendeel beam above the production space. From this elevated position, technical work can take place with direct visual control over the different stages below.

The arrangement combines the practical requirements of production with a clear architectural section, turning observation of the process into part of the internal spatial organization.

 

Black concrete and oxidized metal

The material palette reinforces the weight and horizontal presence of the building within the vineyard.

Externally, black-pigmented concrete gives the volumes a dense and restrained character against the openness of the landscape. Above them, an oxidized metal crown introduces warmer golden and earthy tones, establishing a chromatic relationship with the vineyard, particularly with the changing colour of the leaves during autumn.

Inside, natural concrete receives a bush-hammered finish that exposes its mineral aggregate and gives the surfaces a rougher, less uniform character.

The contrast between the dark exterior concrete, weathered metal and more tactile interior surfaces establishes variation without expanding the material palette unnecessarily.

 

Light as part of the spatial sequence

Natural light is tightly controlled throughout the winery.

At the entrance, sunlight passes between the repeated vertical planes, producing alternating bands of brightness and shadow along the approach. Inside, lower light levels create a more concentrated environment around the production and ageing areas.

The project uses this contrast to distinguish the openness of the vineyard from the controlled conditions required within the building.

Rather than illuminating every area uniformly, light is used selectively to reveal material surfaces, direct movement and differentiate the successive spaces.

 

Architecture between production and landscape

La Vigilia Winery is ultimately structured by the relationship between technical function, landscape and a carefully controlled visitor experience.

Its compact volumes contain the practical requirements of winemaking, while the entrance sequence, tasting areas and circulation spaces slow down the movement through the building and maintain an awareness of the vineyards and Andes beyond.

González Olsina & Vega Arquitectos use black concrete, oxidized metal, repeated vertical planes and controlled light to establish a winery whose architectural identity emerges directly from production, material and territory rather than from applied imagery.