First look at d’Arenberg’s $13m ‘cube’

South Australian wine producer d’Arenberg has released the first artist’s impressions of a AUD$13 million futuristic five storey “cube” being built within its vineyard, set to house tasting rooms, a restaurant and bar.

An artist’s impression of what the finished building will look like

Plans for the futuristic cube, which has been likened to a rubix cube, were announced last year. However these are the first images released by d’Arenberg of what the cube will look like and of the project’s current state, with construction starting earlier this year.

Located in a privileged position among d’Arenberg’s Mouvèdre vines in McLaren Vale, when finished the cube will provide 360 degree views of the vineyard, a tasting room, several bars, a restaurant, private tasting rooms, office space and accommodation.

“The idea to build the d’Arenberg Cube came to me over 10 years ago, and I’ve been refining the plans ever since,” said Chester Osborn, fourth generation family member and chief winemaker of d’Arenberg. “I’ve always considered winemaking to be a puzzle that needs to be put together, a complex combination of geographical elements like soil and geology, viticulture, blending and balance. This building is yet another puzzle to solve, the external patterns join together for a seamless solution, and ideally, all elements of wine should do the same. The names of our wines are also a puzzle to work out.”

Osborne, who received a $2m government grant to help fund the project, hopes that the new building will provide a “future architectural icon”, both to the Fleurieu Peninsula region and wine industry as a whole.

“Research by wine and tourism industries agree on the need for more tourist drawcards, providing interesting experiences for visitors, and this is our response”, he said.

A time-lapse camera has also been installed on the property, which will take a photogaph of the site every 10 minutes to capture its progress.

Time lapse detailing the ‘cube’s’ current progress