The Opus One Winery, a joint venture of the Robert Mondavi Winery and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, is a unique collaboration between a renowned California vintner and a celebrated European winemaker. The winery is set in one hundred acres of vineyards in the heart of the Napa Valley, California’s preeminent wine-growing region. The unique, low profile structure is concealed from view by a crescent-shaped berm which is landscaped in native grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers. This earthen form blends into the backdrop of the hills and neighboring vineyards as it changes colors with the passing of the seasons.

Twenty-seven years after the original opening, Johnson Fain returned to design a 58,000 square foot expansion with the goals of enhancing the visitor experience, creating new production spaces, and providing new administrative offices. The enhancements feature an exclusive VIP Tasting Room, an intimate Reserve Library overlooking the Grand Chai where first-year barrels are displayed, and public tasting rooms that open to a veranda. The design team took inspiration from the original design while creating fresh opportunities to revisit the singular vineyard setting.

Interior design elements of the new upper-level Partners’ Room include fossilized stone floors, cream-colored limestone walls and a textured rough-sawn hemlock ceiling that continues from the interior to the outside veranda. Exterior walls are designed with floor-to-ceiling glass to maximize the views to the vineyard and the Napa Valley landscape beyond. Skylights bring soft light into the interior space that features walnut millwork and accents of blackened steel and bronze. Design elements reflect a unity of winemaking, food, and artful living. Joan Behnke & Associates collaborated on the interior design and furnishings.