napa wine tour with castello di amorosa

Napa and Sonoma Combo Wine Tour Including Castello Di Amorosa Winery

• Swap bustling San Francisco for Napa and Sonoma Valley’s rural wineries
• Benefit from the personalized attention of your small-group guide
• Enjoy hassle-free round-trip transfer from central San Francisco
• Enjoy a traditional wine-tasting at two wineries experience
• See itinerary
• Local driver/guide
• Live commentary on board
• Bottled water
• Guided tour at Castello di Amorosa
• Wine tasting at two (2) wineries
• Entry/Admission - V. Sattui Winery
• Entry/Admission - Viansa Sonoma
• $40 entrance fee (which includes Reserve tasting) at Castello Di Amorosa ($5 Discount original $45)
• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Entry/Admission - Castello di Amorosa
• Option 1 290 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94108, USA 7:30am First Pick up from 290 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 in Union Square across from Macy's building at Geary St and Powell St at the white curb.
• Option 2 2620 Jones St, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA 7:45am Second Pick up from Marriott Vacation Club Pulse located at 2620 Jones St, San Francisco, CA 94133 at Jones St and Bay St.
• Not wheelchair accessible
• Stroller accessible
• Service animals allowed
• Near public transportation
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking
• Vegetarian option is available
• Lunch will be around 11:45am at the second winery (V.Sattui Winery. own expenses)
• Wineries are subject to change sometimes due to private events
• for international visitors, for any questions use our WhatsApp number
• Most travelers can participate
• This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
• This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
• This tour/activity will have a maximum of 9 travelers
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
• You’ll have 2 starting options See departure details
• 1 Golden Gate Bridge Stop: 10 minutes See details
• 2 Castello di Amorosa Stop: 2 hours - Admission excluded See details
• 3 V. Sattui Winery Stop: 105 minutes - Admission included See details
• 4 Viansa Sonoma Stop: 60 minutes - Admission included See details
• You'll return to the starting point

• Venture30564794574 0 contributions 1.0 of 5 bubbles Worst Wine Tour Company Ever Do not book with this company. They are unresponsive, unreliable and lack professionalism. I wish them the worst of luck and I hope they go bankrupt. Read more Written February 23, 2024
• daviacrawford 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Don’t Regret A lot of fun. Many information on different vineyards on the tour. Only make sure you bring money to do the tastings and souvenirs Read more Written December 2, 2019
• beckybairdsells 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles FAntastic Time; Deep appreciation for those who lost so much to the fires. Guide was very informative and friendly. Driver was very informative. Enjoyed castle & 2nd vineyard with pic nic lunch.Mondavi was nice setting but not informative. You buy a flight of wine and no special attention. Read more Written November 2, 2019
• CarolinaB3635 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Good tour, long trip and remember TASTINGS NOT INCLUDED If you're more into experiencing nature rather than getting drunk, this is your tour! If you do choose to pay for tastings, expect to spend at least $20-$25 per stop/winery. It is a long trip from San Francisco to Napa (that's how it felt for me), I want to say we made 2 hours to get there (thus, 2 hours to get back). However, the trip is nice, the view amazing, beautiful landscapes and our guide shared some fun facts and information about the area. The first 2 stops were ok, we didn't really care much for the last one. Read more Written October 9, 2019
• gaydaj 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Wine tasting tour Absolutely great .Zak our guide was very knowledgeable . The smaller group was the best way to go. . Read more Written September 27, 2019
• trickia20 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Excellent wineries!! Loved, loved everything about this tour and the wineries were amazing. Two thumbs up, take the tour you wont be disappointed. My sister and I celebrated our Birthdays in San Francisco and this was the icing on the cake.. Thanks Mrs.Linda and Skywest Tours Read more Written August 30, 2019
• hl0pezjij0n 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Perfect option The Skywest Wine Tour to Napa Valley was perfect, allways on time and accomplishing what was offered. Our driver, Jan, was great and very kind. Read more Written August 1, 2019
• kgribble2019 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Napa Valley relaxation A great way to see what the Napa Valley has to offer. The guide was knowledgeable and the service was great! Read more Written July 25, 2019
• lauralammalley 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles We love Jan! Our tour guide was great. Wines were good. Food awesome. Great day and experience! Her name was 'Jan'. Read more Written July 21, 2019
• Trail719594 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Napa Valley Wine Tour We all liked the 3 wineries we visited... Love the wine tasting at Castello Di Amorosa (their sweet wines are the best!), wonderful lunch at Sattui Winery and their cheese tasting! Jan is funny and amazing tour guide! Read more Written July 8, 2019
• Footprints714683 0 contributions 3.0 of 5 bubbles Wine tour They do not cover the wine tasting or any winery entrance and the lunch is just okay (deli style). But, landscape and the wineries are beautiful! The tour guide and transport were great. Read more Written July 6, 2019
• Emmaandsam91 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Great day Jan was great, really interactive and funny she made the whole day lively and up beat. It’s a long day but so worth it! Read more Written June 4, 2019
• jasmeetr 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Best wineries in one tour I am glad I took this tour and none of the other ones where the selection of wineries is not the best.There are a couple of things I likes about this tour 1. Small group- this is a small group tour in a luxury van with max 12 people.Its easier to travel and more fun when you are not in a large group as you save time in making roll calls 2. Budget- inspite of being small group tour with the selection of best wineries, it's in budget .Its a no frills attached tour.The entry to two wineries was free and for the third one could pay at site which included the wine tastings. 3.best wineries - The tour covered 3 main wineries-Robert Madhavi, V Sattui and Castello Di Amorosa It was a good tour, the only thing I wished was if they could make it a full day tour than a half day. Read more Written May 2, 2019
• Marie H 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Relaxing tour to three Napa wineries Our guide, Zack, picked us up on time at the Union Square Macy's in a nice Mercedes conversion van. Our group was small, just 6 people, which was perfect. We stopped for a photo at the Golden Gate bridge before heading through Sonoma to Napa. Zack told interesting stories and was informative, but didn't chatter the whole time. We had ample time for a visit at the 3 wineries: Castello Di Amorosa Winery, V. Sattui Winery And Robert Mondavi Winery. We had a $5 discount at Castello and a $15 voucher toward food or wine at V. Sattui, which had a nice deli and picnic tables. The wine at all three places was delicious and you got to choose from a menu, not a pre-selected flight. Comfortable, relaxing, and informative. Good day out! Read more Written March 20, 2019
• sk8ergurl2001 0 contributions 1.0 of 5 bubbles DO NOT book this tour Excited to visit the wineries on the list, Skywest Wine Tours cancelled our trip with less than 24 hours notice. Our tour was cancelled because it was only going to be 2 of us on the tour - nowhere on the website or viator.com does it state that this is allowed to occur or else we would have reconsidered. The tour could have absolutely ran with just the two of us. This is absolutely unacceptable. We booked more than a month in advance and the company had ample time to cancel the tour or give us a different date. We planned our entire trip around this wine tour, flew in on certain days, booked an extra hotel night in San Francisco, etc. and was not given any appropriate notice to book another tour. Completely disappointed. What a downer on our vacation. Read more Written December 10, 2018

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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Castello di Amorosa: The Castle Winery of Napa Valley

As the most visited winery in California, Castello di Amorosa is like an adult Disneyland in the northern part of Napa Valley. This 107 room castle that took over 15 years to make is an incredible spot to visit, and the hour and a half tour that takes you all over the castle is a fantastic way to see it. Even if you don’t have time for the tour, you can still walk some of the grounds and taste their wines, so it is a fun spot for the whole family to explore. Here is all the info:

• Hours: 9:30 AM – 6 PM
• Locations: 4045 St Helena Hwy, Calistoga, CA 94515
• Cost: Tours start at $35
• Call to get a winery tour in advance!
• Go on a weekday to beat the crowd
• I visited in 2017

Dario Sattui, the winery owner, owns two wineries and is from a fourth-generation wine family that went out of business during prohibition. He decided to bring back the family business and bought the property when there were only 16 wineries in Napa. In 1993 he started working on the property by planting 30 acres of grapes and building caves into the mountain. He then got the idea of making a 13th century Tuscany style castle. The castle is 121,000 square feet and took 15 years to build; it was opened in 2008. The castle has 107 rooms, and 95 are dedicated to wine, four levels above, and four levels below. The wine flows through the walls in the castle as it is gravity fed from the tanks down to the barrels below.

After booking my tour, I arrived 15 minutes early and walked around the property, taking photos of the beautiful castle. It is a popular destination, and even on weekdays, there are always lots of people exploring the area. I have been told that on the weekend, this spot is crazy and can see 1,000s of tourists in a day, which is why it is essential to book a tour in advance.

I got on a tour with the fabulous Kerry, and we started exploring the castle. Here are some of the things you see, but I recommend going on the tour yourself, $35 (as of 2017) seemed like a good value for what you got to see and the wine/grape juice you can taste.

This is the first spot that you see when you enter the castle and this is where the history of the castle was told to us. They used to hold mass in this room on Sunday mornings until Napa started requiring a permit, and they stopped.

The Courtyard

The courtyard is the next stop, and it is a beautiful area designed to look like how it would have in the period of the castle. It even has an upper room that nobility would have stayed in and is used for concerts and other things.

The Dining Area

This was one of my favorite rooms in the castle, and it is available to see without the tour. It reminded me a lot of the different castles I have toured in Europe and was meticulously painted to have each wall covered in art from the time period.

The Fermentation Area

Next, we headed into the fermentation area, which featured massive stainless steel tanks. All the tanks are hand punched and imported from Italy, which makes them some of the most expensive tanks you can buy. Our guide was knowledgeable about the process, and it was fascinating to learn about, especially about how the wine feeds through the walls.

From there, we headed down into some of the lower levels of the castle. I can honestly say that it must take a month to learn the layout as it is so incredibly massive, and it would be effortless to get lost.

As you are wandering through the underbelly of the castle, you will be continuously flanked by wine barrels in every empty spot they have. The barrels are from trees at least 150 years old, imported from France, and are only used once or twice before they are sold.

They even had a few rooms where the entire walls are built of the bottled wine from the years before they started releasing. It is said that the owner and the workers tried the wine, and since it wasn’t the best that it could be, they just lined the walls with the bottles and didn’t let anyone else try it.

This room has a lot of old medieval pieces of armor that were either made for the castle or imported from Europe. They even had a pit of despair as well, which would mimic those that were found in these types of castles.

The Torture Chamber

This dimly lit room featured a bunch of different grotesque torture devices from back in the day. It is a variable museum of these types of contraptions, and even I was shocked by what a few of them did, be warned if you bring children. All of them are replicas other than the big one with spikes at the end, which is authentic.

The Great Room

From there, you head into the great room, which took over two years to build itself. This room is so beautiful with high arching ceilings and rustic brick. Here the guide let us try wine directly from the barrel, which is not something that you are often able to do.

After this, we headed to one of the private wine tasting rooms where you can try up to 5 different wines or the grape juice that they make here as well if you do not like wine.

It was an excellent end to the tour and a fantastic way to think about how crazy of an adventure you just had in a winery.

After that, you are free to leave the castle or continue to explore some of the upper rooms. I would recommend that you head up the castle tower near the entrance as it features a beautiful view of the top of the castle.

It also has a working door wheel that could be used to raise and lower the doors. This is a great way to end your time at the castle, and you can just sit up here and take in the views as well.

All in all, this is a fantastic spot, one that I couldn’t recommend more. Sure, $35 is expensive, but when you compare that with the fact that most other wineries are at least the same amount for tasting in Napa and don’t include a castle to explore, it seems like a reasonable price for such a unique spot. I would love to hear what you think in the comments below.

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Napa Valley Wineries

Castello di Amorosa

www.castellodiamorosa.com

Information

Appellations.

• Coombsville
• Diamond Mountain District
• Los Carneros
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Gewurztraminer
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• Muscat/Moscato
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• Pinot Grigio / Pinot Gris
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Wine clubs are a great way to stay connected to your favorite wineries.

Castello di Amorosa wine club members enjoy a variety of wine club member events throughout the year. Check www.castellodiamorosa.com for all of the latest wine education events.

To join our wine club, visit ', 'Winery Profile']);" target="_blank" rel="external noopener">www.castellodiamorosa.com or call 707-967-6272.

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4045 Saint Helena Highway North Calistoga, CA 94515

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Tasting Experience

Large Roman cross-vaulted ceilings in the main tasting rooms; tours finish in a private tasting bar under the Castello.

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Wine education.

Tours and tasting have an educational component.

• Family friendly

Castello di Amorosa welcomes families. Our wine tasting includes Muscat Canelli non-alcohol grape juice for the children and adults who desire a non-alcohol alternative. There are restrictions on children touring the underground levels of the Castello and those restrictions can be found on our website visit us page.

• Tasting fee
• Seated tasting available
• Private tasting available
• Barrel tasting available
• Tasting bar
• Indoor tasting area
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• Historical landmark
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• Dog friendly
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Wine tasting at Castello di Amorosa in the Napa Valley

Go wine tasting in a medieval castle in the napa valley with the napa valley wine trolley.

Castello di Amorosa 4045 Saint Helena Highway Calistoga, CA 94515 (707) 967-6272 www.castellodiamorosa.com

Dario Sattui, whose family was involved with winemaking in the Napa Valley before Prohibition, has turned his lifelong passion for Italian culture into a grand wine country experience at his Castello di Amorosa . He spent years traveling around Europe and fixating on medieval castles. In 1994, Dario began the construction of his own castle right here in the Napa Valley. Eventually, The Castello grew to over 8,000 tons of hand carved stone covering 121,000 square feet including 107 rooms, a drawbridge, a church and a barrel room as massive as it is impressive.

Travel | The 10 most spectacular castles around the…

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Travel | apple chops hundreds of jobs in silicon valley in fresh tech layoffs, subscriber only, travel | the 10 most spectacular castles around the world include a california treasure.

Blame childhood fairy-tales or the Disney effect, but castles cast a spell over even the most level-headed of us. We’re enchanted by the very idea of crenellated ramparts and soaring towers, troubadors, jesters and knights. Not the reality of palace life, mind you — we read “Spare,” we definitely don’t want to be royal — but a peek might be nice. And there are castles round the world happy to oblige.

Tripadvisor recently featured 10 spectacular, open-to-the-public castles in Europe, Japan and here in California as the best places to conjure fairy-tale dreams. The list is topped by Neuschwanstein, the fantastical Bavarian palace that inspired Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was one of three palaces commissioned by “Mad” King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

Founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th century, England’s Windsor Castle comes in at No. 3, and most of the others date back to the 15th or 16th centuries.

But the most recent castle on the list wasn’t completed until 2007. That’s winemaker Dario Sattui’s spectacular Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, a 150,000-square foot, Tuscan-inspired castle and winery built from handmade bricks and roof tiles shipped from Italy and ironwork forged by artisans on site. Like many of the other castles on the list, it has secret passages, a drawbridge and moat, a chapel and a torture chamber — but this Napa Valley castle offers wine tastings as well as tours.

Find details on Castello di Amorosa at https://castellodiamorosa.com  and on the other castles at www.tripadvisor.com. Meanwhile, here’s a peek at the list.

10 castles for fairytale dreams

1. Schloss Neuschwanstein, Schwangau, Germany

2. Château de Chambord, Loire Valley, France

4. Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

5. Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City, Mexico

6. Himeji Castle, Hyogo, Japan

7. Alcázar of Segovia, Segovia, Spain

8. Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic

9. Castello di Amorosa, Calistoga

10. Osaka Castle, Osaka, Japan

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Join Winemaker of the Year Brooks Painter and taste your way through our newest releases and future vintages at The Grand Barrel Party!

Contact the Wine Club for membership status at 707-967-6274. 

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Additional tickets may be purchased at the guest rate.

Contact the Wine Club for membership status at 707-967-6274.  Tickets will not be valid if membership is not current.

Limit 2 per membership. Login Additional tickets may be purchased at the guest rate.

Limit 2 per membership.  Login Additional tickets may be purchased at the guest rate. Contact the Wine Club for membership status at 707-967-6274.  Tickets will not be valid if membership is not current.

For eight nights, you can have the exclusive opportunity to be escorted through the most magical parts of Tuscany and Umbria by Castle delle Serre owners, Salvatore Gangale and the Castello di Amorosa wine family.

YOU MUST BE 21  or older to attend our events: Government issued ID availibility required upon request. THIS IS A FINAL PURCHASE:  Tickets are non-transferrable and non-refundable.  No physical tickets, check-in will be via guest list.

For eight nights, you can have the exclusive opportunity to be escorted through the most magical parts of Tuscany and Umbria by Castle delle Serre owners and the Castello di Amorosa wine family.

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Castello di Amorosa Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Manley Lane Vineyard 2021

Juicy and well-packed, with a hint of bramble amid dark …

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Wine Type and Color

Magazine Issue

Apr 01, 2024

Primary Grape

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon, native to Bordeaux, has thick blue skins, giving the resulting wines plentiful tannins and phenolics and making them particularly ageworthy. Over the past 50 years, Cabernet Sauvignon has spread to all of the New World's major winegrowing regions, and it remains one of France's most important grapes.

Other Grapes

California / Napa / Rutherford

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Castello di Amorosa Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Manley Lane Vineyard 2021 | $ 00

Online only review, published on april 1, 2024.

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