Castello di Amorosa opened its doors to the public for the first time on Monday April 9, 2007 - this is the brain child of Dario Sattui owner of V. Sattui winery. This is an immense structure and down to the smallest detail, resembles a real medieval castle. The construction took about 15 years with much of this time spent on the underground vaults and caves. We had the privilege of touring the castle several times before it was even open. You drive up a long steep cypress lined driveway and are met with a truly spectacular site as this Tuscan style stone medieval looking castle comes into view. Huge old gnarled olive trees which date from the 1800's were cut back, transplanted and now grow in front of the castle. The castle contains four levels of underground cellars, 100+ rooms, escape tunnels, a central courtyard, turrets (great view by the way of the northern Napa Valley from the top of one of these) and a great hall.
Upon entering the castle you cross a wooden drawbridge which really does lift up. Daryl shipped some of the pieces of the castle from Italy as well as brought over Italian craftsmen to actually hand paint exquisite colorful frescos and other murals. The grand hall is a huge rectangular room beautifully decorated with murals; individual stories accompany each mural. A very long wooden dining table is in the middle; this is home to some amazing parties! Jesters, jugglers, royal musicians, sword play and jousting events accompany some of these parties. One of the biggest ones is their annual mid summers festival. The "castle" as it is locally called is already a magnet for international travelers; a number of celebrities and politicians have stopped by including Arnold Schwarzenegger. Disney has already filmed a movie here called “Bedtime Stories,” with Adam Sandler. Look for more Hollywood interest in the future. It is the perfect set!
When you arrive you will be directed to the Castaldo room where you can pay for a self guided tour and tasting (limited areas of the castle are accessible), or pay for a guided tour and tasting. This guided tour lasts almost 2 hours including the tasting and there is no other tour in Napa Valley quite like this one. Attention to detail went into every facet of the construction; many of the stones were chiseled by hand as well as was all the iron work. Case in point is the one turret which appears to be damaged, probably from cannon ball fire. This was left this way to appear like the castle suffered an attack! If you see something built into the castle that you have a question about, the most common answer you will receive from your guide is "well that's how it would have been 800 years ago!"
During the tour you totally forget you are in a winery until you exit the back of the castle and enter the tank room. Triple jacketed steel tanks are used so detailed control of temperatures can be regulated during fermentation. This is extremely rare, these are the first 3 jacketed tanks we have seen on our Napa winery odyssey. There is a small "dungeon" room which contains some of man's most medieval devices for torture including a rack which was originally used to stretch limbs - a beyond painful method of torture. Look for several other nasty looking pieces of equipment including the rather confining "iron maiden". Right, you will *not* see this type of stuff on any other Napa winery tours! Many narrow brick walkways are built near the torture room and it can be easy to get lost down here. A barrel sample is included on the tour in the largest room in the castle which is full of brick arches and oak barrels. Apparently someone got a little crazy on one of the tours, testament to the broken glass scattered around the tasting area when we were there.
Your tour ends with a tasting (either a general or reserve depending on which one you paid for). The tasting counter is in a small brick room - only those from your tour are lined up along the counter and its a good chance to meet others from your group. Keep in mind you are in the Castle of Love and romantic inclinations combined with glasses of wine are a true possibility here. Mark the wines you want to taste on the tasting card. Several small bread items and other pairings are available. If you sign up for the Reserve wine tasting it is always nice to taste two wines of the same varietal side by side as you have the luxury of additional tastes over the normal tasting. 2006 Chardonnay has a rounded mouth feel, more toasted almonds and crème Brule on the nose with a note of toasted oak on the finish. The 2005 Chardonnay reserve on the other hand is more citrus like on the nose with hints of pineapple. There is a real nice finish to this wine.
The "Gioia", a Rose of Sangiovese is quite popular. Literally translated to "Joy" in English, there is no Joy in the Castle when they are sold out of this wine. The only non blended wine we tried is the 100% Diamond Mountain grown "II Barone" Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a big wine with rather strong tannins on the finish. We also sampled their entire flight of dessert wines. Their "ray of sunshine" Muscat is a light crisp fruity wine with some nice mineral characteristics. Think their Muscat is fruity, try the Fantasia. This is wine made from Gamay grapes lighter in color and is slightly sparkling. Our guide described it as "adult soda". We can taste for years in Napa before we ever hear that description again. Ha. Their late harvest Gewürztraminer is made from botrytisized grapes (depending on your perspective, some of the ugliest grapes you can find as when they are harvested they are covered in grey and black mold). This wine is full of honey and honeysuckle aromas with nice tropical fruit characteristics on the palate. Note that like their sister winery, V. Sattui, the "castle" wines are only available for sale here - i.e. they have no distributors.
Due to the unique nature of this winery, it is often home to a number of concerts and events especially in the courtyard in the spring and summer months as well as in the Great Hall. Check their website for more details. Visit: www.castellodiamorosa.com
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Open to Public: Yes
Appointments: Yes
Regular Tours: Yes
Hours: 9:30-5pm or 6pm (summer)
Phone: 967-6272
Address: 4045 North St Helena Hwy, Calistoga
 Winery Photos Winery Website
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