Have you ever taken a tour of someplace and thought, this is nice, but something isn’t quite right?
It looks too… staged.
For instance why are there sheep and ducks at this winery and why are those pots permanently attached to the wall? Don’t the peasants need those pots to fetch the sheep water?
Well that’s the feeling my friend El Presidente and I had when we toured the Castello di Amorosa Winery in Napa Valley, California last week. It was nice, but it felt fake.
I like to keep this blog upbeat and keep things on more of a positive note, so I almost didn’t even post about our trip to the winery because I felt like if I couldn’t give an pleasant description of our tour, why bother.
You know, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it at all type of a thing?
But then I remembered, this is my blog, and I can write about whatever I want, for better or worse.
And really, it was a nice castle, even if it was an authentically-styled, 13th century castle and not the real thing and the guys downstairs in the tasting room all had fake Italian accents.
I mean really, what are the odds you are going to find 3 Italian guys and 1 Italian woman with broken accents at a winery all on the same day trying to aggressively sell cases of wine {that isn’t sold in stores} to people willing to pay $19 – $29 each for a tour?
Don’t get me wrong, I like history, and seeing replicas of 13th century tubs is great, but why not show people what really goes on in a winery?
I don’t know about you, but I think people would still pay to see the behind the scenes stuff like, like oh I don’t know, how to make wine. I don’t even drink wine, but I’ve been to lot’s of wineries before and they loved to tell the history about the place.
But that’s kind of hard to do when the place is less than 10 years old and is set up {in my mind} as a tourist attraction rather than a winery.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great the owner fulfilled his lifelong dream to recreate a castle. Castello di Amorosa is a place is beautiful place and would be a great spot for a wedding. But next time, I’ll do a little more research before I take another winery tour.
~Mavis
Have you ever taken a tour and been disappointed?
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Dani says
Did you do the entire tour? As a winery it is fantastic and has a lot of charm and mystery. As an “authentic” castle it falls way short. The many rooms, huge casks, trap doors, many underground levels of wine barrels, not to mention a “torture” room. One that is very Eco friendly you should check out is Beringer in the Kenwood hills.
Dani says
Wrong winery it’s similar but here is the info.
Benziger Family Winery
1883 London Ranch Road
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
(888) 490-2739
benziger.com
Judy says
been to Napa,ca Mavis and most are staged and’s tourist traps..I went to several.. all the same pushing to sell you that crazy expensive bottle of wine that is” only sold there” ha.. can’t tell you how many times I heard that one when I was there… actually many of them don’t even make the wine on site! next time I will go just for the beautiful scenery..
Mrs. Mac says
I’ve been to Napa a few times .. we went to the Sterling winery and a little family operation called Graeser Winery. Both great experiences from grandiose to small scale. The grandiose showed some behind the scenes areas that were interesting. The small operation was a family home.
Your experience reminds me a bit of my one and only trip to Leavenworth, WA … from all outside appearances, including the Apls-like mountains and scenery it appeared to be the real deal .. but when you walked through the town it was so FAKE I swore to never return …. unless to stay at a B&B on the outskirts of town and just take in the mountain views.
I have sworn off tourist traps!
Julie says
Nice photos, if nothing else. I’ve gone in search of history and found staged “historical” sites here in New Mexico too. I’ve walked away disappointed and angry. Some people will do anything for a buck, even recreate history. But hey, other people enjoy that, I guess.
Helen in Meridian says
Anyone who names his winery after the Evil Amarosa from The Apprentice with Donald Trump, I think year one; has to know most of us won’t go there. She was so over the top, maybe his castle is too. It really looks clean. With yur OCD you should like how extremely neat and orderly it is. Please show us a picture in reverse of your back yard, looking up to the back of your house, instead of backyard down. I am sure it is lovely, especially with HH in charge of mowing over your pumpkins if they dare get on his perfect yard.
Leanna says
Oh you were so close you should have gone to Korbel winery in Sonoma county. It is a great tour. (Of course I am a little biased I was born in Sonoma county & my aunt worked at Korbel plus I love their champagne.) 🙂
Lisa says
To be fair, it is supposed to be a replica 13th century castle! It is no more “fake” than going to a Civil War re-enactment, or the Egyptian tomb tour at the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose, CA. What about Plimoth Plantation? About as “fake” as they come, but fun nonetheless.
I can’t get to Egypt or Tuscany, or travel back in time to the Civil War, so the tours and re-enactments have to do. We have been to, and on ma,y in the past 20 years of homeschooling.
Did you know that the “castle” was constructed using the same methods as it would have been 1,000 years ago? Many of the materials are handmade, salvaged from demolished European palaces. Yes, there is a “torture chamber,” as someone mentioned, but did you realize that the iron maiden there is from Renaissance times? All the nails, hinges, locks, leaded windows, etc. are handmade!
It’s a pretty impressive place! The owner is a 4th generation winemaker, so the winery itself is all business. Alas, Mavis, it can’t be rented for weddings. Something to do with county restrictions.
I’m not sure what Helen is referring to, but “Amorosa” means “courtesan,”one who attends the court of a monarch. The woman on The Apprentice was named Omarosa, not Amorosa, Manigault. She is of Nigerian heritage, not Italian.
Robin says
have to agree with Dani, Benzinger is much better, and my cousin works there, so I am a little biased.
Benzinger Winery in Glen Ellen, CA
Biodynamic® Vineyard Tram Tour
Join us for a Sonoma wine tour! Enjoy a close-up look at our Biodynamic vineyards, visit the fermentation facility, crush pad, and explore our barrel caves. The Biodynamic wine tour is approximately 45-minutes, including a special tasting of our award-winning wines.
Biodynamic Wine Tours are daily and leave on the half hour from 11:00am until 3:30pm with the exception of noon (weather permitting).$20.00 per guest, $5.00 under 21
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
Ew, not a fan of the fake stuff either. It seems like the Disney World of wineries. There’s a hotel local to me that I refer to as hotel Disney. Once inside, it looks like lots of “old” and “authentic” buildings with courtyards (mind you- this is all inside- I live in NY- you can’t have outside stuff) with fountains and whatnot. It’s super popular for weddings. And it creeps me out. It just seems like it’s trying to hard.
KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile
Erin Wilson says
I think a PSA to your readers is a good use of space!
A note on the sheep… don’t know how they fit in in this situation, but one of my favourite wineries in Niagara (Canada) has sheep to keep down the weeds in the vineyard. They eat the grass and weeds, but don’t find the vines appealing at all. They are far less destructive than mechanical means for weeding, and let’s face it… it’s more work than humans could ever do. It’s a lovely relationship they’ve got going there.
Herdog says
My girlfriends took me there last year for my birthday. I felt so bad that they were going to pay THAT much just to look around the ‘castle’ (no tour for us). Yes, it’s a jip! Napa wineries all need the gimmick to get the tourist inside their winery. I’m with you, I love seeing the stuff in the background. Guess that’s why I worked for wineries for 20 years. Go Sonoma County Wineries!
carol says
You don’t have to go so far to find good wineries here in Washington State. There are a whole bunch around Yakima and Walla Walla. Both areas have terrific wineries and wine. None that I know of have fake castles. 🙂 Some are a little stuffy, but most are welcoming. We went on the wine tour around Yakima one year, and found we enjoyed the little wineries that weren’t necessarily on the map the most. We started out in the car and noticed signs for wineries not on the official map. Most were small operations with very enthusiatic owners/operators. They all had interesting stories and the wine was good, too!
m @ random musings says
+1 for the WA wineries – just pay for the wine tasting, if that’s your thing….I’m usually satisfied with the freebies at Chateau Ste Michelle and the like 🙂 vines need altitude, rainfall and space that pretty much guarantee a nice view!
Janet says
Mavis, I have also been there and had that same nagging feeling. But then I paid extra and had THE best winepairing experience of many. It was held in that fancy fake room with the scenery painted walls and the long table down the middle. It was divine. It was lengthy. The food was prepared by the lady who was in charge and she was EXCELLENT at her job.
MARYANNKOHLER says
The bricklaying took 10 years as it was all done by hand, througout the winery.