I'm impressed someone bothered to make a Yelp page for this room at Castello Di Amorosa... then never bothered to check in or write a review for the place. Well, I don't like wasting a perfectly good page, so allow me to put some life into it.
The Castle Torture Chamber is an underground room inside the winery castle known as Castello Di Amorosa in Calistoga. It cannot be accessed with general admission - you must take a tour of the castle to gain access. With good reason... can you imagine if some of the kids tried playing hide and seek in the Iron Maiden? Tours are $20 for wine club members, otherwise $40 for adults. Minors are also allowed to go on the tour, but I believe there is a minimum age.
So why is there a torture chamber in the winery castle? Because back then, all castles had one. Dario Sattui wasn't going for a Disneyland castle... nope, he wanted it to be authentic as it could be (w/ indoor plumbing and electricity). In fact, he spent decades sneaking into castles in Europe to investigate their inner walls. Thus, we have the torture chamber with all the tools used for interrogating and punishing misbehaved men, treacherous wives, traitors, etc.
While he went for authenticity, most of the torture chamber props are high quality replicas - Sattui had them hand crafted in Europe. While not as sharp, they're still likely to cause pain. The only authentic piece is the Iron Maiden, a coffin like piece that has spikes inside. The spikes were strategically placed not to kill anyone but still cause an immense amount of pain. I guess there's no point in torture if the person you torture dies quickly? I also wonder how one manages to purchase an authentic Iron Maiden from the medieval times, but I shouldn't question a man who had the money to build a castle in Napa. ;)
Again, pretty neat space to be in, albeit a little creepy. Props to Mr. Sattui for getting his castle down to the nitty gritty. read more