Castello di Amorosa

Castello di Amorosa is a castle and a winery located near Calistoga, California. First opening its doors to the public in April 2007, the castle is the pet project of 4th generation vintner, Dario Sattui, who also owns and operates the V. Sattui Winery named after his great-grandfather who originally established a winery in San Francisco in 1885 after emigrating from Italy to California . ^[2][3]

The winery sits on property that was once part of an estate owned by Edward Turner Bale.^[4]

The castle

Front entrance to the Castello di Amorosa Winery.

The castle interiors, which include 107 rooms on 8 levels above and below ground, cover approximately 121,000 square feet (11,200 m²). Key details and building techniques are architecturally faithful to the 12th and 13th century time period. Among many other features it has: a moat; a drawbridge; defensive towers; an interior courtyard; a torture chamber; a chapel/church; a knights' chamber; and a 72 by 30 feet (9.1 m) great hall with a 22-foot (6.7 m)-high coffered ceiling.

The torture chamber has an authentic 300-year-old iron maiden which Sattui states he bought for $13,000 in Pienza, Italy, a replica rack, prison chambers and other torture devices. ^{[1] [5][6]} The great hall features frescoes painted by two Italian artists who took about a year and a half to complete and showcases a 500-year-old fireplace.

Wine tasting in the cellar

The masonry, ironwork and woodwork was fashioned by hand using old world crafting techniques. Building materials included 8,000 tons of locally quarried stone, in addition to paving stones, terra cotta roofing tiles and some 850,000 bricks imported from Europe.^[1][7][8] Extending into the hillside adjacent to the castle lies a labyrinth of caves some 900 feet (270 m) in length. Beneath the castle are a 2-acre (8,100 m²) barrel cellar and tasting rooms where visitors can sample the wines-all sold only at the Castle.^[9]

Due to Napa County restrictions, the castle and grounds cannot be rented for weddings or receptions, but are available to rent for corporate gatherings and fund raisers. In May 2012 the county ordered the winery to cease holding a weekly Catholic Mass in the chapel located on the grounds due to lack of use permits.^[10]

A 360° panorama of the Great Hall.

• 
  The castle as seen from the driveway.
• 
  A view of the drawbridge entrance.
• 
  A view of the great hall.
• 
  A view of the courtyard.
• 
  A view of knights' chambers.
• 
  A view of the wine cellar.
• 
  A view of the castle exterior from moat level.
• 
  The Iron Maiden in the Torture Chamber.
• 
  The Torture Chamber.

References