“Allen Jack+Cottier’s recent Domaine Chandon development in Victoria’s Yarra Valley set a precedent in Australia for the celebration of wine.”

Sean Pickersgill, Architecture Australia, July/August 1996

Allen Jack+Cottier’s design of the Domaine Chandon winery in Victoria’s Yarra Valley responded to Moët & Chandon’s request to incorporate an education programme similar to those they operate in California and France. Headed by Keith Cottier, our design team planned a visitors’ path that transforms an otherwise industrial experience into a sensory adventure of exploration and discovery.

Following the wine production process, the path allows visitors to move from delivery dock, wine press, sieve and fermentation tanks, bottling plant, Riddling Hall to wine tasting and sales, and the vineyards beyond. The winery, formerly a disused dairy site, captured the public’s attention as soon as it was completed, setting a new level of style and sophistication for the Australian winery. Without any advertising, it attracted a growing number of visitors, to the point where annual visitation now exceeds a hundred thousand.