Inspired by Sinalunga, Italy

“I began touring the Sinalunga countryside in 1989, developing what was an obsession. I fell deeply in love with medieval architecture and spent countless hours studying medieval structures down to the smallest details. Waking early each morning, I would fill a backpack with a sketchpad, tape measure, camera and hammer. I would ride out into the beautiful countryside on my motorcycle before dawn. Day after day, I would sketch, measure, and photograph each place I visited, carefully noting details.

I was able to visit hundreds of the abandoned medieval buildings that peppered the landscape of Sinalunga. Many of the castles, palaces, and monasteries were boarded up and abandoned. That is the reason I brought the hammer – to break into these beautiful neglected buildings so that I could enjoy their splendor. Motivated purely by a desire for knowledge, I never did any damage to the historic buildings I visited and always left them as I found them.

Many of the boarded up castles in Sinalunga, were for sale. When I could not get into one with my hammer, I would go to a real estate agent dressed in a suit and tie and pretend to have enough money to buy a castle in the area. In this manner, I was able to visit most of the otherwise inaccessible castles I wished to see.

In 1991 I purchased an 11^th century monastery in the Commune (County) of Sinalunga in Tuscany which I’ve recently restored. It is nestled in the hills at the confluence of three valleys 23 miles east of Siena in Tuscany is “Monastero di Coriano”,  was built more than 1,000 years ago. It remained a fortified monastery in the Augustian Order of the Catholic Church until 1650, when the order was abolished by the Pope, as it rivaled his power. It then became a farm. My love of medieval architecture and history inspired me to purchase the monastery, which was run down and basically uninhabitable. This monastery was my inspiration for building Castello di Amorosa, and to a large extent the Castle was patterned after it.”

Sinalunga, Cabernet Sauvignon

“Thirty years later, this same passion has inspired me to craft an exceptional wine, in very limited quantities, to be honored with the name Sinalunga. This Cabernet blend epitomizes the love, passion, quality, dedication, and attention to detail that went into the making of Castello di Amorosa.

The idea was to create a wine that is the best thing we’ve ever done. Put as much love in the wine as we have into the Castle and as the Monastery in Sinalunga, Italy. So we decided to name the wine Sinalunga, I hope this wine will be the epitome of everything we’ve learned, of all our love and passion for winemaking. In this way I honor Sinalunga, and all my years ive spent in Italy.

A blend of the Castello’s top high-end Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards from the best growing regions of Napa Valley. The Cabernet blend is aged for 20 months in the finest oak. I am proud to present Sinalunga: a wine symbolic of the Castle itself, a crowning achievement. “