Winery Visit - Chateau Morrisette on 4-8-12

On Saturday, April 8, 2012, I went to Chateau Morrisette with my girlfriend and two other friends.  We took a tour of the winery, and also participated in a tasting.  The trip there was quite interesting.  My GPS decided to take us on some gravel back road, where we encountered what we thought was a rabbit raccoon.

Raccoon Stumbling Around

After nearly 45 minutes of driving, we finally made it, and were not disappointed by the spectacular view.  I had never been on a winery tour, so was quite excited.

Chateau Morissette, Floyd Virginia

Amy and I at waterfall by parking lot

Chateau Morrisette is located in the mountains of Floyd County, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was the result of a love affair between David and Nancy Morrisette that began in 1978.  They started the winery as a hobby until they realized they were giving away more wine than they were drinking themselves.  Their son, David, became the Chateau's first official wine maker in 1982.  Since then, the winery has been booming, and growing steadily.  Although they do grow some of their own grapes on site, the majority of the grapes are received through contractors.  As soon as the grapes are picked, they are crushed using the machines below.

The smaller machine is used to crush red grapes, and the larger to crush white/green grapes.

       

The winery itself, currently produces 19 different wines and has 130,000 gallons worth of steel tanks to store it.  They also have an additional 50,000 gallons worth of French and American oak barrels.  The guide also noted that they recently purchased a few barrels from Hungary.  As soon as the grapes have been crushed, they are processed, fermented, and stored in these barrels/tanks

Wine Barrels

Steel Tanks

The final step in the wine making process is the bottling.  After the wine has properly aged in the barrels, they are transferred to bottles.  All the bottles from Chateau Morrisette are sealed using "real" corks as compared to synthetic.  This is done because Mr. Morrisette insists on it.  He takes great pride in his wine, and does not want to sacrifice anything in order to save a few cents here and there.

At the end of the tour, we were able to participate in the tastings.  We were given ten different wines, starting with the drys, then the off-drys, and finishing with the sweets.

• 2010 Chardonnay: This wine had a wonderful aroma.  Apple, melons, and citrus were all easily detected.  I could also smell some vanilla, due to the oak barrels in which the wine was stored.  The taste was fantastic.  It was extremely smooth and rich in flavor.  I could taste apple and pear, along with a hint of spices.
• Independence: This wine was very dry and crisp.  It had a lot of floral and fruity aromas.  The taste was fantastic.  Grapefruit was definitely evident, as well as melons.  It was quite refreshing and light.
• Liberty: This wine had am extremely light body.  The aroma can only be described as being filled with fruit.  The taste was nothing different.  Berries upon berries could be tasted.  It was also slight bitter.
• 2008 Merlot: The wine's aroma was quite smokey.  It smelled almost like tobacco.  The taste was again extremely smokey.  It was quite heavy and somewhat bitter.
• 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine was filled with the aromas of blackberry and cherry.  The taste was heavy on the cherry flavor however, which I found quite interesting.  It also had a somewhat smokey aftertaste,which I wasn't the biggest fan of.
• The Black Dog: This wine was quite interesting.  The aroma was more or less dominated by spices. The taste was medium bodied, and somewhat sweet.  Again, as with the aroma, the predominant taste was spice.
• 2010 Vidal Blanc: The aroma of this wine was filled with apples and citrus.  I could also detect a somewhat flowery aroma.  The taste was extremely refreshing.  The citrus and apple flavored dominated, but I think this added to the smoothness.  It was somewhat sweet, but had a slight bitter aftertaste.
• Our Dog Blue: This was probably my favorite wine of the day.  The aroma was filled with fruit, citrus, and flowers.  It reminded me of a nice spring morning.  The taste was fantastic as well.  I could easily taste the melon and citrus flavoring.  It was smooth and light, and was sweet, but not too sweet.
• Red Mountain Laurel: The aroma of this wine reminded me of grape juice.  The taste was almost exactly how it smelled.  The guide described it as Welch's grape juice on steroids, and I could not agree more.  It was sweet and smooth.  If I hadn't known it was wine in the first place, I probably would have mistaken it for grape juice.
• Blackberry Wine:  This wine was extremely smooth and sweet.  I could detect blackberry instantly. It was by far the sweetest of the day, as well as the most popular with my girlfriend.  

Tasting Room

After finishing the wine tasting, it was time to explore the store.  We ended up buying three bottles of wine, and hit the road back to Blacksburg.  Thankfully, I took the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I avoided that gravel road.  All in all, this was a great experience.  It was a beautiful day, and our guide was extremely knowledgeable.  The winery itself is quite impressive, and for the price it's well worth the $8.  I look forward to going to visit more winery's soon, as I will have high expectation after visiting Chateau Morrisette.