Chateau Morrisette
On February 17th a group of friends and I visited Chateau Morrisette a winery in Floyd, Virginia. We started the trip by taking a tour with Susan. She talked to us about the history of the building and the folks who started the winery. Then we went outside to the tanks that hold the actual grape juice. We went back inside the main building and through the back doors where we got to see tanks and tanks of wine fermenting. In the very back of the building was the bottling machine they currently use which we got to take a look at as well. Then we had the opportunity to taste 12 different wines that they produce.
Now I'm going to walk you through the process using some of the pictures I took at the winery itself to better explain things.
Starting in the lobby of the tasting room, Susan shared with us some of the history of the winery. The original owners were William and Nancy Morrisette who owned 15 acres and operated Woolwine Winery. Their son David eventually took over and expanded with his most loyal friend Hans (his trusty chocolate lab.) We then walked through the building and cam across this piece of machinery.
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| This is one of the original bottlers that they used when the company first started operating. This machine could fill 4 bottles of wine in 40 minutes. |
We then went outside to see the machines they hold grape juice in. They harvest from September to the end of October.
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| Susan is standing in front of the container they use for white wines. There is another one to the right of this photo used for red wines. They also have a smaller scale one for small batches. |
Once back inside the building we walked right by the tasting bar and learned about all the wood used in this building. It took 4 years to build and all the wood is from San Wood Seaway and old cabins in Seattle, WA. The Morrisette's really believed in reusing materials. All the wood is refurbished and reused.
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| This particular beam started out over 90 feet long and is said to be dated back to the 1300s. |
Then we got to go back into the warehouse part of their operation. This back room still uses all the refurbished wood. They use American White Oak, French Oak, and Hungarian oak for the barrels as well as stainless steel. The wood barrels cost between $600 and $1200 a piece. They only use each barrel 5 times before selling it. Each barrel can hold 280 bottles worth of wine.
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| This is the view from the very first step taken into the 'back of the house'. In total, they can hold up to 173,000 gallons of juice fermenting in this part of the building. |
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| The ice on the steel helps to make the wine clear instead of serving/selling it cloudy. |
The next place we went was a freezing cold room that was both humidity and temperature controlled.
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| This room can hold up to 100 barrels at a time. |
The last stop on our tour was the new and improved bottling machine. This machine can bottle 60 wines in 15 minutes. It also takes between ten and fifteen people to operate.
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| New and improved bottling machine. |
Just a few fun facts we got at the end of our tour. Chateau Morrisette id the 3rd oldest winery in Virginia as well as the 2nd largest. They ship close to 70,000 cases of wine a year to 34 states.
On our way back to the front, Susan told us a little bit about the awards that they had one that day. They won two silvers and a bronze in the Governor's Cup in Richmond.
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| Just a few of the many awards they have won over the years for their wines. |
The last part of our day was the tasting. We got to try 12 different wines that they produce.
- 2014 Chardonnay: This wine was very crisp and floral. It had a slight acidity and was very light. Some of the fruits that were present were pear and apple. It had a very smooth and mineral finish. Susan suggested that we try it with buttery pasta.
- 2015 Viognier: Stainless steel fermented, melon, apricot, and peaches were the main fruits. It had a crisp finish and is great with grilled seafood.
- Petite Manseng: This wine had heavy melon scents as well as honeysuckle and a very crisp finish.
- 2014 Chambourcin: This wine had a very smokey taste smell, very similar to a camp fire. It was fruity including hints of cranberry and raspberry as well as spices. It also had a little bit of chocolate finish.
- 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine was fruity, but also a little bit oaky. It had high tannins, but was very smooth on the palate. The fruits were darker like cherry and blackberry. Very full bodied wine.
- Archival 1: This was Susan's favorite wine. It is a very bold Bordeaux blend. This wine has high tannins, slightly oaky, but still fruity, and had a very smooth finish.
- A Black Dog: This was a semi-dry wine similar to Syrah, It has a very fruity aroma, with subtle spices as well as berries. It is a medium bodied with a smooth finish. I tasted pepper and blackberry in this wine.
- Our Dog Blue: This was my personal favorite, and I bought a bottle. It is a combination of Reisling, Tramirette, and Vidal Blanc. This wine is very citrusy with a hint of floral scent too. It is semi-sweet and goes great with sharp cheese and spicy foods.
- Sweet Mountain Laurel: This wine is very similar to Welch's Grape Juice. It is very sweet and fruity. It has high acidity and a crisp finish.
- Red Mountain Laurel: This is very similar to the sweet mountain laurel in taste. It also has fruity flavors including a little bit of cherry to set it apart from the sweet mountain laurel. It also has a crisp finish.
- Farmhouse Sangria: This wine is fruity with hints of cherry, lime, and orange. It has a very smooth and refreshing finish and slight acidity. Great wine for the summertime,
- Cherry Wine: This wine had a two step tasting process. We tried the wine and then ate a dark chocolate chip and then drank the rest of the wine. At first this wine was very sweet and reminded me of cough syrup. After eating the chocolate it felt more like chocolate covered fruit. It had an overwhelming cherry aroma that I wasn't a huge fan of.
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| This is our little group with our wonderful tour guide Susan. |
