by Patricia M. Lee

new treat awaits the traveler in California’s Napa Valley wine country with a visit to Castello di Amorosa (Castle of Love). Located just off highway 29 in Calistoga, it is a replica of medieval castles found in Italy’s Tuscany region. Darryl Sattui, owner of Sattui Winery in St. Helena, long dreamed of building this castle.

… a replica of medieval castles found in Italy’s Tuscany region.

We visited Sattui’s dream castle recently. It took 14 years to build and covers 121,000 square feet, with eight levels — four above ground and four underground. The upper levels consist of the Great Hall, the Knights Room and the Chapel on the ground floor. Smaller, unfurnished rooms above,offer spectacular views of the valley.

The Great Hall is available for social events such as weddings, where guests dine on gourmet delicacies and sip special wines. Original handmade chandeliers spread light throughout the room highlighting historic Italian murals. The Knights Room showcases paintings from seventeen Italian artists. Smaller groups can gather here and the chapel is a perfect place for couples to exchange wedding vows.

Nine-thousand square feet of underground caves contain the dungeon, torture chamber, cells and wine casks.

Our guide led us across the inner courtyard so we could learn all about the actual wine processing. From there we descended to the caves, strolling past rows of casks permeating the air with their fragrance. This castle of love has its darker parts, which we discovered when we arrived at the dungeon, torture chambers and cells where in early times prisoners were held. The object of the punishment was to slowly prolong death. We were careful not to sit in the seat of the spiked chair!

The wine tasting room was a welcome sight. We tasted a variety of whites and reds, including some special wines like the Sattui merlots and chardonnays.

The Castello di Amorosa opened to the public in April this year.

Castello di Amorosa Winery: tel. 707/967-6272; www.castellodiamorosa.com.

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