We found a Castle in Napa, California

Just south of Calistoga, California you can find the Castello di Amorosa (the Castle of Love). Built by Dario Sattui, the grandson of the owner of V. Sattui who traveled throughout Europe studying castles.  He brought craftsmen from Europe to build an authentic 18th century castle.

Many of the stones within the castle were brought over from actual remnants of castles in Europe.

Castello di Amorosa produces primarily Italian style wines while reflecting California's unique climate, soil and growing conditions. All of the red grapes are grown in the Napa Valley around the Castle. White grapes are grown in the Carneros district of the Napa Valley or in the Anderson Valley, as both of these cool areas are ideal for white wine grapes. 

Dario paid attention to every detail in the construction of his castle.

When we walked around the castle we felt as though any moment Lancelot would walk through one of the many castle doors.

These cast iron dragons are scattered around the castle walls

Interestingly, no two dragons were the same.

I could imagine every little girl would love to play princess in this castle tour.

All the furnishings were created by craftsmen and artisans who specialized in this period.

Our tour guide - Wendy - was amazing in her knowledge and personality and graciousness. Here we are walking through the walkways that surrounded the courtyard.

This is the view while you are standing in the courtyard looking up at the courtyard walkways.

Here we are looking down into the courtyard from one of the arched windows.  You can see little bulbs which at night are all lit up to give the courtyard a festive feel for their events.

This is another view of the courtyard walkways.

The Great Hall is where many of the festivities would begin with a wonderful meal.

During many of the special events that they hold here in the castle, this room is filed with people.

Co & I are seated where the hosts (or King & Queen) would sit during the festivities.

Cheryl is enjoying the beautiful fresco paintings  that had wonderful stories.  These were all around the Great Room walls.

Cheryl took a great photo of these original authentic head pieces that were part of suits of armor that may have been worn by soldiers in those times.

Along with many other items - this complete suit of armor was something Dario brought back from his many travels to Europe.

Of course our tour of the Castello di Amorosa would not be complete without viewing the wines.  The wines behind this locked gate are vintage wines which cost anywhere from $500 to $5000 a  bottle.

One part of the tour which gave us all the creeps - was a tour of the 'Torture Chamber' which had authentic instruments of torture. This is the Iron Maiden which had lots of strategically located iron points inside that would pierce the body all the while never piercing any organs (ouch!).

This 'victim' watched us as we shuddered as each new torture implement was demonstrated.

On to the 'fun stuff' we said..... so we were brought down one more level to the wine caves.

di Amorosa uses only the finest French Oak Barrels to store it's wine.

One of many wine storage areas.

Now it was time to do some serious 'Barrel Wine Tasting'.

Cheryl, Pearl, Flo & Co tasted the wine right from the barrel before it was bottled (a different tasting altogether).

After the Barrel Tasting - we were ready for the more formal wine tasting from the bottles.

Our tour guide - Wendy - was wonderful in giving us more tastings that we thought we would have - from 'apertif' wines to 'desert' wines - and everything in between.

From vantage points higher in the castle we enjoyed beautiful views of the di Amorosa vinyards.

More beautiful views from a castle window.

On the land in front of the castle we could see more vines ready for picking.

To see more about the castle - visit their web site at www.castellodiamorosa.com  And if you ever visit Napa - don't leave without visiting the castle!