Napa Valley’s Robert Mondavi Winery Reopens After a Sweeping Transformation

In Greek, the phrase “To Kalon” translates to highest beauty—an apt name for the resplendent vineyard at the heart of Napa Valley. First cultivated by H.W. Crabb in the 19th century and later acquired by the Mondavi family, the site became the foundation for Robert Mondavi’s ambitious vision of American winemaking. In 1966, he enlisted architect Clifford May to conceive an estate along the St. Helena Highway that would welcome visitors as readily as it produced world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. May responded with a striking composition defined by an exaggerated Mission-style arch and a slender tower, elements that still appear on Mondavi labels today. 

With the debut of one of Napa’s first visitor centers, the estate soon attracted a steady stream of travelers eager to engage more closely with the region’s wine and culinary culture. That success fueled decades of expansion. Additions accumulated across the campus, gradually obscuring May’s original clarity and turning the complex inward, cutting it off from both the To Kalon vineyard and the emerald sweep of the Mayacamas beyond.  

“I’d describe it as heavy on heavy and introverted,” says architect David Darling, who recalls passing the winery’s arch and tower in his youth. His venerated San Francisco firm, Aidlin Darling Design, has built a practice across Northern California with residences, restaurants, and wineries that examine how built environments register on the senses while responding to broader environmental concerns. After attending a design symposium the winery hosted with architects, developers, and sommeliers, Darling recognized a shared sensibility and the project’s broader cultural stakes as Napa Valley grappled with shifting climate conditions, softer tourism, and a growing perception of exclusivity. “On the drive back to San Francisco, I called my partner [Joshua Aidlin] and said ‘This is big. I think we need to do this,’” he recalls.  

The scale proved as ambitious as anticipated. The three-year transformation spans roughly 215,000 square feet and coincides with the winery’s 60th anniversary. Aidlin Darling’s approach centered on restoring the winery’s standing within Napa Valley by reopening its connections to the To Kalon vineyard and the viticulture processes that define it. “Our goal with the new design was to peel back unnecessary layers, restoring clarity to the original Clifford May design while reconnecting the visitors to the surrounding landscape,” Darling explains. The work touches nearly every corner of the property, from the vineyard rows to the hospitality wing and into the cellar, where reconfigured tank systems support more nuanced fermentation and blending.  

“It’s hard to overstate the impact of Robert Mondavi’s partnership with Clifford May—a meeting of two pioneering minds that produced one of California’s defining midcentury landmarks,” reflects Darling. “Our work carries that spirit forward, using design to strengthen the winery’s connection to its site while shaping its future.” 

At the entrance, a reimagined visitor center sits beneath a simple inverted gable that nods to Mondavi’s iconic arch, linking a sequence of indoor-outdoor gathering areas furnished by Bay Area firm BAMO to the original building while opening views above the vineyards. “Napa’s uniqueness comes from the relationship between the river and mountains, and we wanted people to feel that,” Darling says.  Passing through, visitors enter an intimate reception room anchored by a basalt bar, restored to recall Clifford May’s domestic sensibility and the convivial spirit of 1960s Napa. Nearby, an open-air veranda extends from a new culinary building, where ceramic tiles hand-painted by Margrit Mondavi pay further homage to the family’s legacy. 

Private tastings unfold in the north wing, which the team reworked to foreground the winery’s craft. Select venues sit within the fermentation and barrel cellars, including a glass-enclosed tasting room overlooking rows of cement and stainless steel tank pods. Oak reclaimed from former fermentation vats lines the wall and ceiling, its wine-stained surfaces left intact. “We wanted the building to carry a sense of terroir,” Darling notes. A dedicated path threads through the cellar, allowing guests to observe the winemaking process without disrupting it. The bell tower, once used for storage and long affected by water damage, now houses a tasting room and wine library stocked with historic bottles and archival material. 

For all the design moves, the project’s most consequential work addresses water. “The future of winemaking depends on it, and in California we face extremes of drought and excess,” Darling notes. “Addressing that required significant infrastructure, much of it invisible.” In collaboration with landscape architects SurfaceDesign, the team integrated systems that collect and reuse water across the site, including a Cloacina treatment system, while rooflines channel rainfall for capture. The landscape responds with drought-tolerant planting drawing from California natives and Mediterranean-adapted species, calibrated to the site’s soils and microclimates. “We worked with a soil scientist early on to test and harvest existing site soils rich in biological life, part of the terroir that influences the taste of Robert Mondavi wines,” explains Roderick Wyllie, principal at SurfaceDesign. Stormwater, meanwhile, moves through an intricate network of gardens that manage runoff while embodying the estate’s agricultural character.  

While much of that work remains out of view, a central amphitheater anchors the grounds. Sculpted into the terrain and framed by native oaks and indigenous plantings, it recalls the winery’s storied summer concert series, which began in 1969. Spearheaded by Margrit Mondavi, the program brought fine arts into the vineyard and drew performers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and Harry Belafonte, who performed before audiences gathered on the lawn under the open sky. Those memories reverberated loudly from the outset. “Ultimately, this project reflects the people behind it,” Darling says. “As Geneviève Janssens [the estate’s winemaker emeritus] once said, there’s humanity in every bottle. It’s terroir of people.”