Ma(i)sonry is billed as a "living gallery." It is a bold a varied collection of life's finer things; an excavation of worldly treasures and cultivation of premium wines miraculously shipwrecked together in one place. It is Dionysian excess combined with Apollonian utilitarianism and serves to create an aesthetic alchemy that is geared to charge the consciousness.

Ma(i)sonry is set in the century-old Charles Rovegno House in Yountville and is the perfect backdrop for the amplification of the senses. The simple yet elegant structure is made up from local, quarried stone and easily gives the impression of a modest Tuscan farmhouse. The three private tasting rooms and two great rooms that make up the building are littered with architectural remnants that spill out on to a landscaped sculpture garden replete with a 36-foot long communal redwood table and stone fire pit, all of which are selectively shaded by 100-year old olive trees.

Ma(i)sonry's proprietor and curator, Michael Polenske sought to root his sleek, modern utilitarianism in the historic integrity of the building. And why not? Maisonry serves as a nexus between the form throughout and the function therein: it is a showroom pairing a distilled collection of furnishings and artwork to one another and the visitor alike; The stoic simplicity of a de Stijl cabinet nested alongside the curved, rococo edges of a Louis the XV chair; Bertoia's steel-framed heart counterbalancing the mahogany-soul of a Chippendale. It is this functional combination that creates what Polenske terms "a life aesthetic… The resulting landscape is simultaneously urban and pastoral, an oasis of sculpture, art and design."

Ma(i)sonry has managed the fine art of setting theory into practice by placing a select revolving collection of premium limited-production wines at the center of this vision: Blackbird Vineyards, Brown Estate, Husic Vineyards, Lail Vineyards, Pedras Wine Company, Renteria Wines and Tor Kenward Family Wines and Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley are all conveniently available for flight tastings and purchase.

Ma(i)sonry has used simple and elegant assemblage of ideas and redefined the meaning of "tasting room" and "art gallery" into a conglomeration of both and yet something more. It is a particular and unique combination of wine and art, which Polenske, believes comes together, "in a way that would enhance our guests' enjoyment of both. Ma(i)sonry is in every way a celebration of life's aesthetics. Every collection on site has been created by the hand of an artist, artisan, or designer, and, of course, that includes the wine."

Rarely is the capacity of the written word so limited because seldom is a simple trip to Napa this all-absorbing, this sensuous. A word of advice for your first trip to Ma(i)sonry: Leave all your previous expectations behind you; forget everything you've just read; relax and take a deep breath; then be ready to experience the epicurean pleasures first-hand and see it in a new light.

-- Aaron Kirby-Alford