were picked up by a "luxury van" and driven around the valley. That meant we could taste to our hearts delight........and we did. There are 350 wineries in Napa Valley (but we won't be able to visit them all) with many different varieties of grapes and wines. Although only 4% of California's wines comes from this 35 mile long 4 mile wide area, they are world renowned thanks to the efforts of Mondavi.
The first treat of the day began when we entered the hillside driveway approaching the Castello di Amorosa Winery. As we passed row upon row of grapevines laden with grapes, a castle appeared before us.
From that point on we were totally captivated as Joshua Meyer shared his knowledge and enthusiasm about the valley, the castle, the winery and its owner, Daryl Sattui. 
Sattui spent about $30 million dollars and 14 years building the medieval Italian replica castle on the vineyard grounds. First opening to the public in April 2007, the Castello di Amorosa Winery is the project of this 4th generation vintner. He also owns and operates the V. Sattui Winery named after his great-grandfather who originally established a winery in San Francisco in 1885 where we would later have lunch.
The castle interiors, which include 107 rooms on eight levels above and below ground, cover approximately 121,000 square feet. 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 great 
hall with a 22-foot coffered ceiling. There are frescoes painted by Italian artists and a 500 year old fireplace in the hall. 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 bricks imported from Europe. Adjacent to the castle is a labyrinth of caves (glad we had a guide). 
Beneath the castle is the two acre barrel cellar. Also beneath the castle are tasting roo
ms where we sampled the delightful wines sold there.
In addition to all the lessons we learned from Joshua about growing grapes and producing wine, one of the most important one is that "wine is a side dish to you meal, not a cocktail".
Our driver helped us load our cases of wine into the van and we proceeded to the V. Sattui Winery for a picnic lunch, tour and tasting as well as shopping in their gourmet deli.
Most of the information our guide at Sattui related about growing grapes and making wine was the similar although we did take a walk into the vineyard to see the grapes up close. One new fact we learned is the reason rose bushes have been planted at the end of each of the rows of grapevines. Its to keep an eye on mold because roses have the same type of growth system as grape vines. If mold appears on the rose bushes they can catch 
it on the grape leaves.
The final destination of the day was the Hess Collection and Winery located in the historic winery originally constructed in 1903 by Theodore Gier and formerlly part of Christian Brothers winery. The experience here was completely different because the winery also house the "interesting" (modern and somewhat different to most of us) art collection of the owner, a Swiss entrepreneur, Donald Hess. No pictures were allowed of the artwork only the tasting. He purchased the vineyards on Mount Veeder in 1978 and has made it a leader in sustainable and organic practices.
Suffice it to say, our culinary and wine tasting experience was thoroughly enjoyed by all as Larry (our guide) directed us to first taste the wines alone, then with exciting cheeses he provided and then with nuts and fruits and chocolate. Wow!!!!!!!!!
As the sun set on a great day, the van wound back down the mountain carrying our group of tired but satisfied "happy campers".
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