on peregrine wings

Peregrine Winery / Queenstown (Gibbston Valley), New Zealand
Peregrine Winery is located in the Gibbston Valley just outside of Queenstown, an area known for its pinot noir grapes. We visited a number of wineries but Peregrine was, by far, the most architecturally inspiring. The sweeping roof lines of this protective canopy against the mountains of the Southern Alps and the Kawerau Gorge were dramatic. The concrete area is actually a terraced roof, where views of the Kawerau Gorge are framed under the translucent canopy floating overhead which is made of deeply corrugated composite glass-fibre sheeting. This floating 460 foot long roof is not just an architectural nicety; it effectively eliminated the need to allow for snow loads on the building below, and removes most of the solar heat gain from the production rooms (also below), where stable temperatures are critically important. Digging the barrel room and the fermenting chambers into the ground assists in temperature control, requiring the use of less energy. I've seen this alot in wineries in both New Zealand and Argentina - using the naturally cool underground for fermenting and storage - not so much in the States. All in all, a very nice job of blending the built environment into an otherwise beautiful and unspoiled landscape.