Winery Visit - Chateau Morrisette

On Sunday afternoon, 9 of my friends and I decided to take a trip to Chateau Morrisette for their open-house weekend. Some of my friends were in the Geography of Wine class, but others were just along for the experience. We got really lucky because during open-house weekend at Chateau Morrisette they offer free wine tastings!

The beautiful Chateau Morrisette winery.

Chateau Morrisette is located just off the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County, Virginia. It is known for bringing a unique style and character to both its wine and fine foods. My boyfriends parents had taken us there once before last year for an amazing dinner, but we were not yet 21 and couldn't sample any of the wines. This time, we got a free wine tasting with 12 different wines ranging from dry to off-dry to sweet to fruit. We were only supposed to taste 9 wines, but the employee who was hosting our wine tasting was so friendly and generous that she gave us 3 extra! The dry wines that we tasted were a 2010 Chardonnay, a 2010 Viognier, a 2011 Dry Rose (which was the wine of the month), a Liberty, a 2010 Cabernet Franc, a 2008 Merlot, and a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. The dry wines were mostly very tasty (the Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite because it didn't have the typical over-powering peppery or spice taste of other red wines but was more subtle and fruity), but the Cabernet Franc gave off aromas like reminded me too much of a matchbook and the Merlot tasted a tad bit too leathery. The off-dry wines that we tasted were The Black Dog, a 2010 Vidal Blanc, and a Blushing Dog. These were all amazing--I bought a bottle of the Blushing Dog because it was my favorite of the day and only $10.99! It had lovely aromas of sweet florals and tropical fruits and tasted crisp, refreshing, and fruity. The sweet wines we tasted were a Sweet Mountain Laurel and a Red Mountain Laurel. The first was white and the second was red, and they tasted almost exactly like white Welch's grape juice and red Welch's grade juice, respectively. I preferred the Red Mountain Laurel because it had a nicer aftertaste than the Sweet Mountain Laurel. The fruit wine that we tasted was a Blackberry Wine, which was delicious and very sweet. 

All 10 of us and the host of our wine tasting!

After our tasting, our host continued her generosity by taking us back into the section of the winery where the wine is made and aged in either wood barrels or stainless steel. This part of the winery was supposed to be reserved for tours of Wine Club VPI Members, but since we were there for "educational reasons" she got us through. Seeing the countless amount of barrels in person was amazing; there were wood barrels (mostly oak) for aging the red, heavier dry wines and stainless steel barrels for aging the white, lighter off-dry and sweet wines. Our host told us that the stainless steel barrels produce more crisp and refreshing wines while the wood barrels produce more oaky and richer wines. Chateau Morrisette makes and ages all of their wines right there at the winery, so it was very interesting to be able to see how it works first hand. 

In front of the wood barrels.

Another great part about the winery was that there were dogs everywhere! Chateau Morrisette decided to name a lot of its wines after the owner's dog (Star Dog, The Black Dog, Our Dog Blue, Blushing Dog, Frosty Dog, etc) after realizing that putting pictures of dogs on the wine labels increased sales substantially. Chateau Morrisette also sponsors "For the Love of Dogs" which is medical research that benefits dogs with EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), which is an incurable disease that takes the life of countless dogs. Chateau Morrisette contributes a percentage of the gross adjusted sales to non-profit veterinary school canine genetic labs responsible for EPI research. Since I love dogs, this just made the winery all the better. 

The steel barrels, they were huge!

Overall, all 10 of us had a great time visting Chateau Morrisette. The wine tasting, service, and mini-tour just enabled us to enjoy it even more and to learn about all the different wines and the wine making process. We each left with at least one bottle of wine or souvenir from the wine shop, and since I will be in Blacksburg during the summer I will definitely try to visit Chateau Morrisette again soon. 

Enjoying our tasting. :)