Castello di Amorosa: Castle in the Wine Country
No, it’s not a real castle, but it sure looks like one. That’s exactly what Dario Sattui wants you to think when Castello di Amorosa comes into view above the vineyards on the long driveway to this magnet for Napa Valley tourists. Oh, it was only finished in 2007, but it’s as castle-like as you’ll find in North America. After spending 18 years turning V. Sattui (just down the road) into the most visited winery in the Valley, Dario Sattui spent 14 more years and $35 million having this exact replica of a Tuscan castle built. And it comes with a twist: It’s also a first-rate winery.
If you’re in the Napa Valley, it’s worth a visit just to see the outside of the castle. Intended to re-create the scene outside a 12th-Century Italian castle, you’ll see stables, sheep, an aviary and a stone well; walk the drawbridge over a moat to the ticket office; and do a tasting inside ($11 Mon.-Thu., $16 Fri.-Sun.). But this will give you only a glimpse of what lies beyond, beneath and above the tasting room: 106 rooms on eight levels.
If you spring for the 90-minute tour and tasting ($26 Mon. to Thu., $31 Fri. to Sun., every half-hour), you won’t be disappointed. Each tour is limited to 16 people (reservations are recommended), with the guide describing both the castle and the winemaking that takes place inside. Really, there’s no separating the two. Most of the castle’s rooms are lined with barrels or bottles, although some rooms that mimic what you’d find in a “real” castle.
There’s a mural-filled chapel, Italianate courtyards, a Royal Apartment (used for an episode of “The Bachelor”), Great Hall (used for Adam Sandler’s “Bedtime Stories”), a watchtower with a valley view, jail cells, a torture chamber and a medieval armor room. You’ll also see where the wines are aged in a maze of caves and enjoy a barrel tasting. Most of the castle was built using old methods and old materials from Europe, including 200-year-old hand-chiseled bricks in the Grand Barrel Room’s cross-vaulted ceilings, a 300-year-old Iron Maiden in the torture chamber and a 500-year-old fireplace mantel in the Great Hall.
The tour concludes with a tasting at a long bar. (Kids over 4 are allowed on the tour and served unfermented wine—grape juice—during the tasting.) The castle’s reds are hand-picked on the property; Castello’s 2006 merlot was named best of Napa Valley. Besides the standard tour and tasting (five wines), you can pay $12 extra to taste four additional reserve wines with chocolate pairings. Also available are Young Adult Tours ($6-$21), horse-drawn vineyard tours ($48-$68), winemaking classes ($68), and on weekends, food and wine pairings in the Royal Apartment ($68).
- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro
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Bob CooperBob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.
