Building a good winery hasn't always called for the touch of an architectural megastar, but label owners have long had a soft spot for a good designer to flourish. In Bordeaux, back when no tourist in their right mind would consider just 'stopping by', you could still find frills: an impractical marble floor in a bottling hall or a mock-gothic chateau, built to look good on a label. But it was Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi who hoisted the game to a new level. He was the first to open his doors to sightseers.
'Pre-1980 wineries were not visited in general, so their reasons for looking good were different ... more about keeping up with the Joneses,' says Robert Joseph, author of the Wine Travel Guide to the World and founder of Wine International magazine. 'Now about seven million tourists visit Napa each year - more than Disneyland. The Mondavi Winery is like the Eiffel Tower.'
Then along came branding. As luxury fashion brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton started recruiting architects to reboot their brands, vineyard labels - particularly the young, ambitious New World winemakers - cottoned on to the power of a good image, and preening began in earnest.
Gone are many of the humble warehouse clusters. Now cellar doors and tasting rooms rub shoulders with Michelin-star restaurants and cute boutique hotels. Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Santiago Calatrava have been given a winery to design in the past few years and each has become a spectacular showpiece that can tug travellers out of the cities, mouths agape and cameras dangling from their wrists. Enthusiasts can even gauge the vigour of a region's wine industry by checking out its design credentials: it's no coincidence that as Spanish wines face a revival, every star architect in the world seems to be working in northern Spain.
Still it's not just about showing off. Designers have to factor in the latest production technology and blend centuries of tradition with a face that fits the 21st century. But they've risen to the challenge with audacious creativity and more than a dash of fun. If you like to sip and spit in style, below are five of the best-dressed buildings in wine country.
Marques de Riscal hotel,