Further, the design team has re-landscaped the site to restore its natural qualities, extending the structure with a canopy and rows of textured black concrete columns that create dynamic viewpoints and echo the woodlands beyond.Ī revival and extension of an abandoned lodge | all images © Far WorkshopĪbstracted black concrete in dialogue with chinese countryside

Both spaces are united by an atmosphere that fuses a modern ambience with the site’s quality of a ‘relic’ to be preserved. Now, the vault sits as a wine cellar including a space for tasting, and the lodge serves as welcoming entrance to receive guests. Prior to the renovation, the site’s underground concrete vault was originally used for grain storage, meanwhile the traditional lodge was left abandoned for years. Shanghai-based Far Workshop has transformed an historic lot of land in China’s countryside and its underground and overground into a wine cellar. “I think that when you try to create a place where you can sit and talk, and create a history of your own, you do that by telling stories about it-which is such a rich Appalachian tradition already-and I hope we’ve done that here.Far workshop transforms abandoned relic into wine cellar “It was always about storytelling,” Hiatt reflects, surrounded by both his own sketches and sweeping views from the tasting room he designed. “We have another group of wines, mainly blends, that when you line up the bottles, they become a picture of place: our ‘Ghost House ’ Otto the ancient oak tree the dogs, Ellie Mae and Chloe,” adds Hiatt. Each is a reflection of the real flora and fauna that can be seen throughout the property. “If you look at our different varietals, they make up the ‘branch’ you see across our labels, because they’re all part of one story.” Like puzzle pieces, the art unfolds across each bottle, from the reds, watched over by red-tailed hawks, to the whites dotted with springtime songbirds, and finally to an after-dinner wine, complete with a hummingbird. The partnership felt “meant to be,” says Hiatt-and the influence is clear in the final product, which features Hiatt’s black-and-white illustrations. Here’s the uncanny coincidence: not only did the founders of Fuzzco live right down the road in Flat Rock, but it turns out that Helen Rice’s grandfather is the very same artist that initially inspired Hiatt’s sketches, Carew Rice. “The design team helped us refine the work and get the brand where we wanted to be.” I’m an architect by trade, so I can draw all day-but that doesn’t mean half of it won’t be junk,” Hiatt laughs.

“We went through several exercises together to hone down exactly what direction we were going in. That’s when the team brought on design agency Fuzzco, helmed by Josh Nissenboim and Helen Rice out of Charleston. All of our labels are rooted in the story of this property-and the art started to fall into place when we found the land.” Liquid Dreams into Paper RealityĮven though Hiatt and Parks had a vision, transforming the sketches into final bottle art was a challenge. “We knew we wanted the art to have something to do with the place where the vines will grow. “I was looking at the artist Carew Rice, who is famous for his simple, beautiful black-and-white silhouette pieces,” says Hiatt. When Hiatt first started sketching out ideas for bottle art in 2014, he and partner Tim Parks had already been dreaming of starting a winery for years. Tim and I were at a point in our lives where we were trying to find a new path-and this vineyard was our marked tree.” An oak tree might show you the way to a hunting ground an ash might help you find a watering hole. “They would take a sapling and tie it to the ground, and it would grow into an L-shape that would point you down a certain path. “A ‘marked tree’ is one of the ways that Native Americans would navigate the wilderness,” reveals Lance Hiatt, one of the Flat Rock, NC, vineyard’s founders and the artist behind the labels. Marked Tree wines invite you into a story-one with a surprising twist. From the first sip and at first sight, you’re drawn to the refreshing, whimsical simplicity of the graphic art on the label and the liquid art inside the bottle. These aren’t expected varietals in stately crest-adorned bottles, blending in with others on the shelf. There’s something distinctly different about Marked Tree Vineyard.

Marked tree vineyard