Winery Visit: Chateau Morrisette

Chateau Morrisette

On Saturday, February 23, 2018, my friends and I took a trip up to Chateau Morrisette which is located in Floyd, Virginia. Since it has been raining and I was cooped up in the house for a few days, I figured that visiting this winery was a must! The winery was about an hour away and it rained the entire time so the trip wasn't very scenic. I have visited Chateau Morrisette twice before and I love going back every chance that I can. The style of the building is unique and I feel transported to the past every time that I go inside.

The Cellar tour took place at 1 P.M. and was very informative. Our tour guide began our tour by giving us a brief history of the beginnings of the winery. The Morrisette's -William and Nancy- were originally from North Carolina, but were interested in wine making so they bought land in Floyd, Virginia. The mascot featured on the wine labels is Hans, the families black lab who enjoyed lapping up red wine from the floors of the cellar room. The original tasting room has now become the restaurant, and the new building is made all from salvaged materials.

After learning a brief history of the winery, our tour guide begin showing us the machine that processes the grapes. We weren't able to go outside to get a great picture of the machine because the rain was too bad at the time but it was interesting to see. At this time, out tour guide told us that the winery grows two varietals - Concord and Niagara - and typically harvest late August to October. She also informed us that because of the past rainy season, their last harvest wasn't great. Next, our tour guide led us into the cellar room which included hundreds of barrels and huge steel tanks. She informed us that they use American, French, and Hungarian Oak barrels that they use up to 5 times. Furthermore, she took us into another room where most of the barrels were stacked and kept at a temperature of 50-60 degrees.

Steel Tank

Barrel Room

Bottling Machine

Following the barrel storage room, she showed us the machine that completes the bottling. In prepping for bottling, the process takes around 2 - 3 days. The machine was humongous with lots of moving parts that take 10 people to operate. She said the machine is pretty outdated, but works for them considering new machines cost 7 figures. The machine in total, can bottle 60 bottles in 15 minutes. Our tour ended here with the bottling machine and I learned a lot about the processes of Chateau Morrisette.


Next, my friends and I completed a tasting. Our tasting included 10 of their wines plus a glass for $10 which was a great deal! We tasted the wines from dry to sweet and most had a vintage of 2016 - 2018. Below are the wines we tried:

Tasting Area

2018 Vin Gris - Strawberry, Peach, and Raspberry
My Description: This wine was really smooth and delicious. The flavors were great and had many fruit flavors wrapped into it.

2017 Vidal Blanc - Apple, Melon, and floral notes
My Description: Once again, another delicious pick. I definitely tasted hints of lemon zest and peach. It was so refreshing!

5 Red Grapes - Loaded with cherry and graham crackers
My description: Graham crackers sounded weird, but I tasted it and it was great! It was very light with lots of raspberry and a spicy finish.

2016 Chambourcin -  Cranberries  and olives, toasted oak
My Description:  Very light and flavorful. Definitely lots of cherry and white pepper.

The Black Dog - Fruity
My Description: Semi-sweet and delicious - maybe one of my favorites.

Our Dog Blue - Melon, Citrus, Apricots, and Flowers
My Description: Tasted like summer! Also best-selling Riesling in Va. It was very delicious!

2017 Petite Manseng - Tropical aromas of pineapple and mango
My Description: Definitely tropical and reminded me of the beach - delicious!

Sweet Mountain Laurel - Fruity
My Description: Tasted just like Welch's grape juice! Very sweet and delicious!

Farmhouse Sangria - Fruity
My Description: This was great! I would love to get this and just add fresh fruit!

Cherry Wine - Cherry
My Description: This tasted a lot like Kool Aid. I liked it, but not sure if I could drink a whole glass.

Me

Overall, Chateau Morrisette was really fun to visit once again. I learned a lot and the wine was great - can't wait to visit again! Also, I bought a cute t-shirt so there was lots of perks in visiting! When we left, it was rainy still and not more than 20 minutes of driving, my friend ran out of gas! We were stranded in front of somebody's driveway for at least an hour and a half before AAA could reach us. This definitely wasn't what I expected my afternoon to include, but what an adventure! My friends and I got to talk a lot and even played some fun games. I have never ran out of gas before and since this experience wasn't that fun ,I don't plan on it ever happening again. 10/10 experience

Us gasless