Winery Visit - Chateau Morrisette

On March 1, 2016 I visited Chateau Morrisette for a tour and tasting. I had never been to this vineyard before or tried any of the wine made here before, so I was very excited for the new experience especially because they are so well known around here. I will talk about the tour and history first, then the tasting.

Entrance to Winery & Tasting Room.

The tour began at the entrance of the tasting room. We were given an abbreviated tour since it was a Tuesday and only one employee was there.  This winery was started by William and Nancy Morrisette as a hobby out of their home in Woolwine, Virginia. David, their son went to Mississippi State to study viticulture to learn more about grapes and how a winery works. He came back to Virginia and worked in the basement of his home and produced the first commercial wine in 1982 with his famous black Labrador Retriever, Hans, by his side. He dedicated the famous Black Dog Wine in honor of Hans by putting Hans on the label. 

The Black Dog Original Label.

Tasting Room with Hans on the Fireplace.

The grounds used to include just the house the family lived in; the upstairs for living and the downstairs was for the winery and events that were starting to grow in popularity. The house became too small and in 1999, the tasting building was constructed and the house was converted into a restaurant. This building is the largest business building in America using reclaimed and salvaged materials - 185,000 board feet of wood was reclaimed to construct this building. (This is interesting to me since I do study architecture).

Building Interior - Tasting Room Entrance.

After learning about the family and the architecture on the property, we moved to the exterior grape crushers and interior barrels. There is a smaller 1 ton crusher and a larger 10 ton crusher, named "Lucy." The way the crusher works is the bladder expands, pushing juice to the sides and down into the tube into the building. They will sometimes do a second squeezing on grapes in the smaller crusher to get more juice and flavor out of the grapes. 

The First Grape Crusher owned by
the Morrisette Family.

1 ton & 10 ton Exterior Grape Crushers.

There are many stainless steel tank, but also three different types of oak barrels that the grapes are fermented in. The type of Oak depends on the flavor wanted for that specific wine. The Chardonnay Reserve is kept in a French Oak barrel for the entirety of it's fermentation process, whereas the regular Chardonnay is in a stainless steel tank for most of it's fermentation time (12-18 months) and then thrown into the French Oak barrel at the very end to neutralize the flavor.

Stainless Steel Tanks & Oak Barrels.

The wine tasting included 12 wines, I will talk specifically about 5 of the wines that I tried. 

Dry Whites:

• Chardonnay 2014 - $17.99 - This grape actually comes from North Carolina, not Virginia. The wine smelled like sweet citrusy cantaloupe with a hint of wild flowers. This wine tasted more like a citrus-honeydew flavor with a hint of stone. It was very crisp, refreshing and smooth on the finish. They recommended it pairs well with grilled chicken and Asian cuisine. 

• Chardonnay Reserve 2014 - $32.99 - This wine was definitely so much different than the previous Chardonnay, partly because these grapes come from Virginia and they are placed in a French Oak barrel for fermentation. This wine was full of body, it was buttery and oaky. It smelled like pears and sweet cream. It went down very smooth and was definitely one of my favorites.  

Rose Style: 

• Vin Gris 2015 - $17.99 - This is their Rose-styled wine that was introduced for the first time this past Valentine's Day. It had a beautiful pale pink color and smelled like sweet strawberries, peaches and tropical fruits. This wine had a nice linger on the finish and a good mid palate surprisingly. It was a good balance with the crisp acidity, making it not as sweet and giving it a refreshing quality. This wine is said to go well with anything from popcorn to pork-chops, even spicy food.

Red Wines: 

• Chambourcin 2012 - $17.99 - I smelled plum, black cherry, and cranberry. It was a very fruit-forward wine that was medium-bodied. I didn't notice much mid-palate and didn't have as much linger on the finish as I had hoped. But, it was a good, smooth red that I could drink with mild meats and vegetables. 

• Archival 1 2012 - $19.99 - This wine had a strong scent of dark red fruits, pepper spice and even a hint of mocha. This is their Merlot-based wine with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot mixed in. This was a full-bodied wine with a very good finish that lingered for a while. The aromas from this one were the most impressive to me and made this wine overall a favorite for me. 

Leaving Chateau Morrisette.