Winery Visit - Château Morrisette

On Saturday, March 17, 2012, a friend and I visited Chateau Morrisette in Floyd, VA. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch, wine tasting, and a tour of the winery. This was my first trip to a winery so I was anxiously awaiting the tour to get a firsthand look at the facility.

Once we got to the winery, we went to the Chateau Morrisette restaurant for lunch. We were seated next to a stained glass window, shedding soft lighting over the table. The building is rustic with natural wood on the walls and high ceilings with old wood timbers. It was absolutely beautiful with a view of the mountains out the window. We enjoyed the fruit a fomage appetizer (fresh fruit and cheese plate) accompanied by a glass of their 2011 Dry Rosé and a glass of Our Dog Blue. The main course was a wild mushroom and chicken sandwich. Everything was delicious and very fresh. They provided a wonderful atmosphere with fantastic food.

Chateau Morrisette

After lunch, we headed over the winery building, located just across the parking lot. You enter the building into the large tasting room. This building also has the same rustic charm as the restaurant with high ceilings and wood timbers. This is where we did the wine tasting. For a mere $8, you got to taste ten of their wines plus get a complementary wine glass with the Chateau Morrisette emblem. It was nice that the wines we tried with lunch were not part of the actual tasting so I was able to try twelve different ones. We were able to try the following wines during the tasting...

• 2010 Chardonnay: I have heard of the descriptor of "buttery" in reference to chardonnays but I have never really understood what that meant until I tried this wine. There was an aroma of apricot and citrus. The wine was unbelievably smooth with a buttery mouthfeel. This has got to be one of the best chardonnays I have had yet.
• Independence: This wine is a blend of Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Riesling, and Chardonnay. This white had a subtle taste of melons and a floral aspect. This one was a little sweeter than the chardonnay, but still pretty refreshing.
• 2010 Chambourcin: Dark violet wine with an aroma of berries. This is a silky red that is medium-oaked. It has the perfect amount of oak flavor balancing the berries. There is a slight pepper aftertaste. This was a really nice red that is not overly dry and would probably be really good with a piece of chocolate.
• 2009 Cabernet Franc: The Cabernet Franc includes small amounts of Petit Verdot and Tannat. This one was way too dry for me. I had difficulty picking out many specific descriptors as I was overwhelmed by dryness. We got to try this one a second time after an aerator was put on the bottle. That definitely helped make it a little smoother and I was able to taste plums and cherries. This one would have to be decanted or aerated prior to drinking.
• 2008 Petit Verdot: Like the Cabernet Franc, the Petit Verdot was also extremely dry. I had the sensation of all of the moisture being sucked out of my mouth. It smelled a tiny bit fruity but I couldn't taste much because of the high tannic component.
• 2010 Vidal Blanc: This white had an aroma of citrus, melons, and a slight floral smell. It was incredibly light and refreshing. It is one of their "off-dry" wines and is a little sweeter than the Chardonnay and Independence. This was my favorite wine during the tasting because of how well the flavors came together and how the slight sweetness was balanced by a nice acidity. I liked it so much that I went and bought a bottle right there after the tasting!
• Blushing Dog: This is a blush wine made from a blend of Vidal Blanc and Traminette, with a touch of Chambourcin. This one is 4% sugar and considerably sweeter than the Vidal Blanc. It is floral and fruity, but balanced with a slight acidity.
• Sweet Mountain Laurel: This sweet wine is made from the Niagra grape. According to winery, these grapes have a tendency to have a kerosene-like or tar-like aroma. When I smelled it, there was an initial fruity and floral aroma but then it became overwhelmed by the smell of kerosene. It tasted a little like grape juice mixed with kerosene and was incredibly sweet and sugary. I have tried this wine before and didn't notice the kerosene aspect so I was very surprised to find that flavor and smell.
• 2010 Frosty Dog: This one is an ice wine. They freeze the grapes so that the water is frozen, allowing the sugar to be more concentrated. It is 14% sugar and is incredibly syrupy. I took one sniff and knew it was going to be sweet. I heard a suggestion to freeze this wine to create a dessert slushie. Our server also suggested adding vodka to it to create a more interesting cocktail or shooter.
• Blackberry Wine: This is their only non-grape wine, made from blackberries imported by train from Oregon. Blackberries are usually tart so I was not expecting this wine to be as sweet as it was. It smelled delightful with the sweet aroma of berries. It was a little too sweet for my liking, but was interesting. Our server made a "Spanish Sangria" by mixing the Blackberry Wine with the Chambourcin. She said to add more blackberry if you like it sweeter or more Chambourcin if you like things dryer. I had a mixture that was 3:1 Blackberry Wine to Chambourcin. This was a very interesting combination. I enjoyed this more than the Blackberry Wine on its own since the combination cut back on the sweetness.

In the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day, they had a special leprechaun shooter at the end of the tasting. It was electric green in color and contained the Sweet Mountain Laurel wine with sours mix and green coloring. The sours helped to cut back on the kerosene flavor of the wine and I enjoyed that a little more than the wine by itself.


After the tasting, we gathered at the front of the tasting room for the winery tour. We learned the history of the winery and how it got started. David Morrisette planted the first grape vines in 1978. It started as a very small operation. The restaurant started as a small building to serve soup and sandwiches to visitors but has grown to have a full menu. Morrisette wanted to use real wood timbers in the winery and bought the wood from an old factory that had been shut down. After the history lesson, we were led outside. Chateau Morrisette gets their grapes from several different areas around the Shenandoah Valley. The wine production occurs in the Fall, once the grapes have reached the perfect level of ripeness. They are delivered to the chateau and dropped off here...

De-Stemmer

The grapes are fed into the de-stemmer to separate the grapes from the stems. They are then added to the crusher.

Grape Crusher

This machine contains a series of plates with holes punched in them. There is a rubber bladder which is slowly inflated. The pressure of the bladder gently presses the grapes against the side of the machine, forcing the juice out and through the holes. The juice is collected at the bottom and fed into a tube which then sends the juice to the fermentation room.

Fermentation Tanks

We walked back inside and found the fermentation tanks. The juice is brought into these tanks where the yeast is then added. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is transferred to either a stainless steel tank (mostly for the white wines) or an oak barrel (mostly for the red wines).

Wall of barrels where the red wines are stored and aged

Stainless steel tanks to store the white wines

Once the wines are aged for the appropriate length of time, they are bottled. Our tour guide unfortunately did not show us where the bottling takes place. The oak barrels are used for about 5 to 7 aging processes. The oak trees for the barrels are grown on a farm in France. The barrels cost a couple thousand dollars when they are brand new and the winery will sell the old ones for about $75. The guide said he has an old barrel that he uses as a rain collector.

Old barrels for sale

This was an incredibly fun experience. The winery is picture-perfect, nestled in the mountains and just steps from the Blue Ridge Parkway. They have a large patio that would be lovely to sit at and enjoy a bottle of wine while taking in the beauty of the surroundings. It had unfortunately started raining during our visit so we ended up staying inside most of the time. This would be a wonderful place to go back in the summer though when they have small concerts on Sunday nights.