Today marks the third anniversary of the opening of Ridgeview Wine Estate‘s tasting room, which has become one of Yelo Architect’s landmark projects (and one of the most fun to work on!)

Before and after images by Jim Stephenson

Founded in 1994 Ridgeview has become one of the pioneering brands of English wine, catching the attention and tastebuds of the likes of Presidents and Prime Ministers. Wishing for their facilities to offer the same level of refinement as their product Ridgeview reached out for a revitalisation of their tasting room.

Yelo took the brief and created a space that catered to all their established needs and reflected their brand – the colours and tones that make up the interior reflect the hues found in the vineyard across the seasons, which are also found in their visual branding. The walls are strategically faceted to capture different amounts of light, creating subtle gradients within the interior that add visual interest.

To complete the clean geometric aesthetic we collaborated with our favourite furniture consultants and suppliers, Posture People, who provided beautiful furniture tailored to the space that could be easily be stored. 

Images courtesy of Posture People

The end product was a fantastic success; Mardi Roberts, Ridgeview Sales and Marketing Manager, commented on the impact of the tasting room at Ridgeview:

“It is amazing to think that three years have passed since we opened our new cellar door tasting room, however we can’t really remember how we lived without it! Yelo Architects had a challenge on their hands when we set them the task of working with a relatively small space that needed to work on many different levels. Our cellar door is the first experience customers have of Ridgeview when they visit us so it needed to be representative of our part as industry leaders in English sparkling wine production. What we have now is a wonderful space reflective of our high quality brand and maximises on our ultimate asset which is the spectacular view of the vines overlooking the Ridge of the South Downs.

Since opening our new cellar door we have seen a dramatic increase in visitor numbers and our tour figures have doubled. We also have a space where we can offer corporate entertaining and events which has been incredibly popular. The most positive effect that we have a room that we can be incredibly proud of and visitors walk away with a sense of the professionalism of our brand. We are constantly getting feedback of how impressive our cellar door is and anecdotally been told on numerous occasions it is up with some of the very best tasting rooms in the world!”