Place

In 1989, Carl Doumani discovered the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian painter, architect, ecologist and philosopher. Believing that the wine society had transformed a beverage of consummate pleasure into an absurdly serious pursuit, Doumani commissioned Hundertwasser to design a winery that combats these notions.

To call Hundertwasser an eccentric person would be an understatement. Growing up in the era of Bauhaus, a German style that dictates calculated angles and rigid designs, Hundertwasser denounced such suppression of mankind’s creative power and started his rebellion against the “sterile order of the grid”. He chose to reject straight lines. “The straight line is godless. The straight line is the only uncreative line”, said Hundertwasser as he criticized straight lines of modern architecture as evil tools of uniformity that restricts originality, sense of self and connection with the nature. As you study Quixote’s building, get ready to be dazzled by the colorful mosaics and free flow of curves.

Hundertwasser’s creations are not only bold. They embody a philosophy that seeks to introduce nature back to our concrete jungle. “I want to show how basically simple it is to have paradise on earth,” wrote Hundertwasser in 1975. Born in Vienna as Friedrich Stowasser, he began signing his work Hundertwasser after World War II. In its literal translation, Friedrich Hundertwasser means “Peace-Realm Hundred-Water”, a name that manifests his lifelong ideology of freedom, harmony and unity with the environment.

Quixote’s landscape was built on Hundertwasser’s quest to let people feel the nature again. Tall wild grasses brush against your ankle as you ascend to our reception area. Rosemary bushes, thyme, persimmon, buddha’s hand citrus, pomegranate, fig, and nectarine fill our garden in a beautiful harmony.

Quixote Winery has been called “adventurous” and “eccentric.” To those who have experienced Quixote’s curious architecture and exquisite landscape in the golden hillsides of the Stags Leap District appellation, the 42-acre wine-crafting property is a world of its own. We sincerely invite you to visit our estate, a journey to break away from reality and discover the beauty of reuniting with nature and your own creative mind.