Near Calistoga there is a castle with a moat, a drawbridge and a torture chamber. It is a working winery.
Who built it
Dario Sattui, of V. Sattui Winery, bought 171 acres in 1993 for $3.2 million and began construction in 1995, according to Wikipedia. His great-grandfather Vittorio had founded a winery in San Francisco in 1885. Sattui spent about $40 million, and the castle opened in April 2007. The land was once part of Edward Turner Bale's estate.
By the numbers
The castle has 107 rooms on eight levels. It covered 121,000 square feet when it opened and has since grown to 141,000. Builders used 8,000 tons of local stone and 850,000 European bricks, and there are about 900 feet of caves. The great hall has a 500-year-old fireplace, and the torture chamber holds an iron maiden bought in Pienza for $13,000. Wikipedia calls the design faithful to 12th- and 13th-century Tuscan castles, while the winery describes it as a 14th-century Tuscan-style castle.
The fire
In the 2020 Glass Fire, a farmhouse on the property was damaged and the 2020 Fantasia vintage was lost, but the castle itself was not harmed. The wines are sold only at the winery and online.