Encouraging fresh impetus in the winegrowing tradition through ambitious architecture is the aim of the Wine Architecture Prize awarded by the German Winegrowers' Association, Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Winegrowing and Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Architects for the fourth time this year. The winners will be announced and honoured in November at the INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA HORTITECHNICA 2016. The example of a 2013 prize winner shows that investing in architecture can be worthwhile for winegrowers.

Many wine drinkers, and younger ones in particular, like to enjoy their wine with all the senses in its place of origin. They also attach special importance to the presentation of the estate and expect an attractive contemporary setting. This poses wine growers with both an opportunity and challenge: to provide tourist offerings rooted in the winegrowing tradition while at the same time satisfying modern standards. In order to promote the development and implementation of ambitious new buildings, conversions and extensions, the German Winegrowers' Association, Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Winegrowing and Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Architects are awarding the Wine Architecture Prize for the fourth time. Winegrowers and other building owners, along with their architects and planners, can submit projects up to June 15th, 2016.

20 vintner's cottages provide guest accommodation directly on Sabine and Markus Longen's wine estate.

Regional building materials and traditional flair

From converting former stables with vaulted ceilings into tasting rooms or building guest accommodation in the style of vintner's cottages with local materials, many winegrowers are enhancing their estates to appeal to customers, visitors and tourists by providing attractively furnished accommodation, tasting rooms or sales areas. The Wine Architecture Prize was awarded for the first time in 2007 for projects of this nature. 

Sabine and Markus Longen were among the winners of the 2013 Wine Architecture Award.

Mosel wine estate branches into the hotel business

Among the winners of the 2013 prize, Sabine and Markus Longen are a good example of how an investment in architecture and change of business model can bear fruit. The couple have run a 5.5 hectare wine estate in Longuich, a community with 1,300 inhabitants north-east of Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, since 1999. At the end of the 1990s estates like the Longens' were faced with difficulties. However, thanks to the pioneering cultivation of modern grape varieties like white Burgundy and Chardonnay and the red grape varieties Pinot noir and Merlot, the Longens were able to sell an increasing amount of wine directly on the estate – entailing necessary modernisation of the buildings. In 2002 they initially built additional storage space, fitted out a room for tastings and a vinotheque with a small menu.

Guest accommodation by architect Matteo Thun in vintner's cottage style

The major step followed a couple of years later, when the couple branched into the hotel business in 2009 by commissioning Milanese architect Matteo Thun to build 20 guest rooms in vintner's cottage style. The single-storey cottages were built on a meadow amid fruit and other local trees. The vintner's cottage guests can enjoy winegrowing culture and the nature of the Mosel countryside at close quarters. The hotel business meanwhile accounts for most of the revenue generated at the 'WeinKulturgut Longen-Schlöder'. Modernisation and wine estate expansion have paid off for the winegrowers. As Sabine Longen comments: "It was the right decision".

At the 62th German Winegrowers' Congress, held on the occasion of the INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA HORTITECHNICA, Sabine and Markus Longen and architect Thomas Hemmes talk about the conversion and development of their business over the past years on 29 November at the 'Wine, Tourism and Architecture' conference.

Summary of key data for the 2016 Wine Architecture Prize

• Awarded by: the German Winegrowers' Association, Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Winegrowing and Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Architects
• Wine estate and winery business, enology or wine production, vinotheque, restaurant, hotel and outdoor building projects can be submitted
• Closing date for submissions: 15 June 2016
• Announcement of the winners and award ceremony: INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA HORTITECHNICA, probable date 29 November 2016
• After the award ceremony, the winning projects will go on a touring exhibition.

Application documents can be downloaded at: www.diearchitekten.org/pdf.php