Brittany's Wine Blog

Monday, April 30, 2012

Winery Visit- Chateau Morrisette

On Saturday April 13, 2012, my roommate, neighbor, and I decided to take a day trip to Chateau Morrisette in Floyd, Virginia.  Apparently my roommates GPS has not been updated in some time resulting in us taking many windy back roads that added on an hour to our trip and three vary car sick individuals.  On the plus side, it made our arrival to the winery that much better!

Some how we ended up on a random dirt road for a good thirty minutes

My roommate and I at Chateau Morrisette!

 I have only been to one other winery, but I could not imagine a much prettier view than this one in the beautiful mountains of Southwest Virginia.  Chateau Morrisette is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains offering a terrific view from not only its winery but from its on site luxurious restaurant and event stage. After wandering around the estate for a bit we were greeted with our tour guide Jim or as we liked to call him "Jimboooooo".  We learned that people travel from all over the states to visit this winery with all the other groups coming from different states.


Beautiful view from the parking lot

Our tour guide Jim

Jim informed us Chateau Morrisette was founded in 1980 after William Morrisette began experimenting with grape growing in the 1970's.  Mr. Morrisette experimentation was sparked thanks to the advice from the Virginia Tech fruit and science department. His winery was only one of six started at the time making it one of the oldest wineries in Virginia.  Also what is unique about the winery building is that it was made from salvaged timber and is one of the largest in North America still today.

Some metal screws have been used to abide by building regulations today
(Foyer of Chateau Morrisette)

The tour then began as he took us outdoors to the grape crushing machines.  Here there was a larger machine used for green/white grapes and a smaller machine used for red grapes.  As we stood on the patio Jim pointed in the direction of the on site vines and informed us they were off limits to visitors. The winery does not grow all grapes on site and gets a large majority of them shipped in from independent growers.

Grapes are fed in here prior to the crushing to rid all grapes of stems.

The next stop was a bit chillier as we entered the tank fermentation room where the crush grapes are sent after.  This building houses over 160,000 gallons of stainless steel tanks, and 50,000 gallons of French and American oak barrels.  Here is where yeast is added to the grape juice to allow the fermentation process to take place.  The wine is also stored in this room once fermentation has occurred in either an oak barrel or a stainless steel tank.

Stainless steel tanks

Oak barrels

Stainless steel tank capacity

Once the wine is aged to the appropriate length of time it is bottled and boxed for shipment.  As we walked through the tank fermentation room we were able to see the boxes of wine with empty uncorked glass bottles in them.  When we reached where the bottling takes place, we were able to see that the glass bottles are shipped from overseas as we stood next to a large unopened shipment labeled from Mexico.  After the barrels are no longer used they are sold to the general public.

Boxes ready for bottling

That concluded the tour and we quickly made our way to the wine tasting that followed.  Jim began the tasting with giving each of us a souvenir glass to take home and a small bag of oyster crackers to clear our palette in between tastings.  We tasted eleven wines in total with a variety of dry and sweet wines.  I found my fellow tasters appeared to be experienced in wine tasting as they swirled, sniffed, gurgled, and drank their wines.  The wines we tasted consisted of:

Jim took a picture of us after our wine tasting

The center piece to the wine tasting room

2010 Chardonnay: I normally am not a huge fan of Chardonnays but this one seemed to appeal to me as it was very smooth and buttery.  It love fruity wines so the citrus/ apple aroma was very inviting.

Independence: This wine was farely sweet and rather refreshing.  The wine was filled with fruity characters, primarily melon and grapefruit.  I received an abundance of smells first receiving a fruity sense and then an aroma of roses.

Liberty: I am not a huge fan of red wines at all so my tasting of this one is very bias.  The wine is a blend of Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  It had a very berry aroma, but I did not seem to taste a lot of fruit when drinking it.  Liberty was very dry with hints of spice.

2008 Merlot: This is a medium bodied, deep red wine infused with traces of cranberry and cherry.  I actually did not mind this red wine seeing as it was a bit fruitier than the last and was not so dry.  The wines flavors were enhanced by oak tannins.

2009 Cabernet Sauvignon: I really enjoyed this wine because I received different flavors in the initial tasting and the aftertaste.  The initial taste was filled with a cherry flavor with a bit of a spice whereas the aftertaste had a hint of vanilla.  This wine smelled of blackberries.

The Black Dog: I found it interesting that this wine can come labeled two different ways catering to the local demographic, the standard "The Black Dog" label or the Virginia Tech "Hokie Red" label.  I must admit their marketing strategy worked as I have purchased this wine from the local gas station due to the Virginia Tech label.  I was not a fan of this wine when I purchased it and did not feel the need to try it again.

2010 Vidal Blanc: Jim informed us this wine received a stainless steel finish which resulted in a lengthy, aromatic finish.  This wine smelled primarily smelled of citrus with touches of melon and floral aromas.  I enjoyed this wine seeing as it was farely sweet, light, and smooth.

Our Dog Blue:  This wine was my favorite one during the tasting!  The white wine is a semi-sweet Riesling- Traminette blend with Vidal Blanc and Petit Mensang added for depth.  It was very refreshing and sweet especially on a hot summer day.  The wine had aromas of melons and apricots with a hint of flowers.

Blushing Dog: This is a semi-sweet blush wine made from a blend of Vidal Blanc and Traminette with a touch of Chambourcin.  It has floral and fruity aromas  and is rather sweet.  I also enjoyed this wine, but not as much as "Our Dog Blue". 

Red Mountain Laurel: This wine was way too sweet for me tasting almost identical to grape juice.  It is a dessert wine that should be paired with chocolate desserts or poured over a pound cake.  I could not drink a glass of this wine, but pouring it over pound cake sounds pretty inviting.

Blackberry Wine: This wine smelled the best out of all of them with very strong and noticeable aromas of berries.  I would gladly purchase an air freshener emitting this exact aroma.  The wine is not made from grapes, but from blackberries shipped in from Oregon.  It is very flavorful, sweet, and seemed a bit heavy to drink more than one class of.
After our wine tasting, we sat down for a nice late lunch at the restaurant next door.  The restaurant was beautiful filled with many large windows displaying a beautiful view of the mountains it overlooks.  One can choice to sit indoors or outdoors to eat their meal, but seeing as it was a bit chilly outside we chose to eat indoors.

The outdoor seating area of the restaurant

The food was delicious and I recommend anyone who makes the trip to the Chateau Morrisette winery to also make sure to top their day off with a visit to their restaurant next door.  After a very satisfying day we decided to journey back to Blacksburg, but instead this time we took the directions of our waitress.

The drive back was absolutely incredible with many beautiful
 overlooks.

My neighbor Steve had a little too much fun at the
winery.