De Bortoli winery garden
C4 Architects worked with De Bortoli Wines to create an expansive garden environment as part of a broader redevelopment of the Bilbul cellar door – the 14-acre flagship site established in 1925. The upgrade to the site encompassed car parking, storage facilities, a cellar door sales building, themed landscape gardens, tennis courts and a pavilion, and the facilitation of interpretive walks throughout the gardens. Together, these additions create opportunities for large outdoor functions while shaping a landscape that feels like a natural extension of the winery and visitor experience.
A landscape transformation and garden upgrade for De Bortoli’s flagship Bilbul Cellar Door in the Riverina region.
Design approach
Our architects worked closely with the De Bortoli winery team during the masterplanning and design process to gather a deep understanding of the different elements of the winery experience they wanted to bring together across the site. The final landscape design introduces curving pathways, defined gathering areas, layered planting and improved visual connections that guide visitors naturally through the gardens and vineyard environment. A large open garden area provides flexibility for outdoor functions and events, including weddings, extending the visitor experience across the broader landscape.
The fertile soils across the winery site presented us with extensive opportunities for vegetation, allowing plants to establish and grow quickly. Previously used as a vineyard, the site for the gardens presented us with a largely flat terrain, which we responded to in our landscape design by adding gently undulating mounds throughout the gardens. These help define garden edges, provide wind protection and create shaded pockets across the site, offering relief from the harsh Griffith sun. Collaboration with the winery team and their extensive earthmoving experience helped us to efficiently shape larger landscape features across the development.
The completed garden landscaping has created new opportunities for large-scale events at the winery while also establishing it as a destination on its own. The addition to De Bortoli’s Bilbul cellar door takes it beyond the traditional winery experience, creating a sanctuary escape amid harsh surroundings.
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