Architects: Clayton Korte
Area: 1,405 m²
Year: 2019
Photography: Casey Dunn
Interior Design: Clayton Korte
Structural Engineer: SSG Structural Engineers
Civil Engineer: Intelligent Engineering Services
Lighting Design: Studio Lumina
Mechanical Engineer: Positive Energy
Concrete Subcontractor: Dash Concrete
Specialty Steel Fabrication: Fasone and Associates
Art Metalwork: Cactus Max Fine Metal Artwork
Contractor: Monday Builders
Principal Architects: Brian Korte FAIA, Camden Greenlee AIA, Josh Nieves, Brandon Tharp, Nicole Corwin
Materials/Products: 3G Lighting, BK Lighting, Blum, Board-formed Concrete, Deltana, Dorma, Ecosense, Escenium HAUS, Fantech, Ghost, IESA Living, InSinkErator, Knauf, Kohler, Lightcraft, Llano de la Torre, Lutron, Lumimii, Miele, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Perlick Signature Series, RAB Lighting, Rixson, Rocky Mountain Hardware, Rubio Monocoat Plus, Saint Louis Design, Simonswerk, Sistemalux, Sub Zero Drawers, Tech Lighting, Teka, Toto, VALVO, Vigo, WAC, Watermark Designs, WhisperKOOL, Wolf E Series
City: Johnson City
Country: United States

Hill Country Wine Cave, a private wine cave designed by Clayton Korte in Texas Hill Country, Texas, serves as a secluded retreat along the Blanco River. The project, completed in 2019, features a tasting lounge, bar, wine cellar, and restroom, all set within a shotcrete-lined tunnel excavated into a limestone hillside. The design harmonizes with the natural landscape, using native materials and vegetation to blend seamlessly with its surroundings. The interior combines wood, concrete, and stone elements, creating a warm, adaptable space for wine storage and tasting.

Located at the eastern edge of Texas Hill Country, this private wine cave serves as a destination along a secluded bend of the Blanco River. Excavated into the north face of a solid limestone hillside, this shotcrete-lined tunnel is shielded by tall oak and elm trees on the east and west, allowing it to vanish into the native landscape nearly. The modest exterior entry court adds an air of mystery, providing only a glimpse of what lies within. Heavy limestone boulders, gathered from the excavation, and lush vegetation further obscure the entry as you descend into the cave’s mouth.

Hill Country Wine Cave / Clayton Korte — © Casey Dunn

Inside, a tasting lounge, bar, wine cellar, and restroom are all within an 18-foot tall, 70-foot deep existing tunnel. The cave’s exterior opening is capped with a board-formed concrete portal that conforms to the limestone’s irregular surfaces and structurally supports the mouth of the excavation. The concrete is intended to naturally patina over time, with native moss and ivy clinging to the surface and climbing onto the adjoining limestone walls to integrate the headwall into its surroundings further.

The interior features a mix of raw and ebonized white oak with vertical grain Douglas fir paneling on the walls and dropped ceilings, providing a warm contrast to the rugged concrete and stone. Custom insulated and thermally broken steel and wood windows separate the interior from the exterior, as well as the entertaining lounge from the chilled cellar. Reclaimed cedar, salvaged and milled for live-edged countertop surfaces, is used for the tasting bar and floating restroom vanity. Lead architect Brian Korte, FAIA, notes, “It’s like a ship in a bottle. The components of the wood insert are deliberately kept away from the existing cave walls so that the room remains adaptable.”

At the cave’s back, the private cellar, under a fully arched profile, is surrounded by casework that provides storage for approximately 4,000 bottles. The space is thermally regulated by the naturally cooler subterranean temperatures, with supplemental cooling to maintain an optimal atmosphere of 13-15 ℃ (55-60 ℉).