After Beringer and Sterling on Thursday, our next stop was Schramsberg. They have some of the oldest caves in Napa, and that is where they store their wine. It was also a very interesting tour, because they make sparkling wine and that is a totally different process.
This is a view of their caves -- the bottles that line the left and right go back into the cave about 20 feet on each side!
These guys have an interesting job...they put on their protective face masks and then drum the bottles on the rubber in front of them. They are checking for imperfections in the bottles -- if there is any type of bubble in the glass, it will explode because of the sparkling wine!
These have been stored for awhile...lots of dust and cobwebs!
During the tour at Schramsberg, we did a tasting with our guide Todd...one we tasted was a $110 bottle of sparkling wine!!
I may have mentioned in my initial posts about them having a riddler -- this frog sculpture is of their riddler, and is in a beautiful pond out in front of their building.
From there, we stopped at a smaller winery called Trinchero, and Chris got this pic of me by their fountain...and signed up for the wine club!
Friday morning, we had a 9:30 tour appointment at the Castello di Amorosa...and we fell in love! Definitely our favorite stop of the trip. The place was so massive and impressive, every bit of it!
This is what we were met with upon entering their big iron gate...
And the beautiful castle sat at the top of the winding hill...
Chris in front of the castle...
The drawbridge...
Me, waiting for the tour to begin...
This was our amazing tour guide Wendy...loved her! She was an incredible story teller and was filled with so many interesting details...really enjoyed her!
This is in the great room...the walls had hand painted with beautiful ornate murals, and there were large velvet chairs for the king and queen...
More barrels -- lots of them at the Castle!
The castle also had a torture chamber, which was interesting...this is the Iron Maiden...they would put prisoners inside, close it up, and then large spikes inside the contraption would pierce the person's skin. Yikes!
Chris posing with a suit of armor in the Knight's Chamber...
Another of me...
Me and Chris outside the castle, with the beautiful view behind us...
This is the view, looking from the drawbridge...just beautiful!
Once we left the castle, we stopped briefly at Chateau Montelena...didn't do a tour there, just looked around. It was a very pretty building, with great views. Not much else to see there though.
Look how tall these trees are!!!
Me and Chris in front of the gorgeous fountain...
This is a bit out of order, but here is where we had dinner on Thursday evening...Tra Vigne. Delicious homemade pastas. And a gorgeous building...
More to come! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment