Yesterday, a group from TLCD Architecture had the rare opportunity to visit the largest and most diverse single collection of vintage wine related and viticultural artifacts in the United States. Jim McCormick, long-time collector, antique dealer and specialist in wine and viticultural antiquities, led the tour. His collection comprises 30 years of travel, hunting and gathering unique hard-to-find viticultural rarities from the wine regions of the United States and abroad, with an emphasis on California. It includes over 4,500 historical artifacts.
The collection is housed in Jim McCormick’s 2nd floor downtown Petaluma gallery, and in 3 barns located outside of town. We were amazed at the quality and diversity of his collection, but were equally impressed by the excellent condition of the objects; Jim has painstakingly restored each item, arranged them for display, and maintains them in beautiful condition. It is almost incomprehensible that one person can maintain 4,500 objects and the spaces they are housed in. Simply amazing! Jim is knowledgeable about each and every item in his collection, and is exceptionally passionate about what is obviously a labor of love. We feel honored to have been able to visit the collection, and to learn about the intricacies of many of the objects and their historic importance to the wine industry.
Much of his collection will be housed in the California Wine Museum (CWM), currently being designed by TLCD Architecture in collaboration with exhibit designer David Edquist of EDQ Design. The CWM will be located in Museum on the Square in downtown Santa Rosa and is expected to open in late 2015. The mission of the Museum will be to preserve and exhibit California’s wine heritage, educate visitors about state-of-the-art winemaking plus learn the nuances of wine appreciation.Visitors will be immersed in interactive exhibits of California wine history and wine making that include over a thousand of Jim’s artifacts.
http://www.californiawinemuseum.com (collection)
http://www.californiawinemuseum.org (museum)
http://www.edquistdesign.com (EDQ Design)