Winery Visit: Chateau Morrisette

On April 16th, 2012 me and 2 of my other friends went on a long day adventure throughout southwest Virignia in search of some wineries. Our second stop took us on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the mountains and brought us to Chateau Morrisette. Upon pulling in to the parking lot, we were instantly able to see how beautiful of a place it was:

View as we walked towards the Tasting Room

View from the front area

View down the hill 

 After looking around for a bit outside the winery, we then decided to venture in as it was nearing time for the tour of the facility. Upon walking into the tasting room/winery we were absolutely blown away. Huge vaulting ceilings, tons of space everywhere, and it was just an absolutely gorgeous structure. Walking around a bit before the tour revealed more of the same, it was quite amazing. They then began to show us around the winemaking parts of the facility, and here are the grape crushers that they have on site outside of the tasting room:

The grape crushers at Chateau Morrisette

We then walked around some more, saw some wine aging in barrels and just an overall look at the facility. The facility was quite amazing to see, as I never really knew how big wine was in southwestern Virginia and how big some of the wineries are currently. Following the tour we then went back into the tasting room and were offered to try a few wines for free or pay for a tasting. We opted for the smaller tasting as we had been touring wineries all day and figured we shouldn't try too many. Here are some of the wines we tried:

• Chateau Morrisette Cabernet Franc-  Cabernet Franc 2010: Wild berry and cedar aromas illuminate the plum and black cherry flavors in this mid-weight, mouth-watering wine.  The silky tannic structure is augmented by small amounts of Petit Verdot and Tannat, and slowly fades into a warm, lingering finish with emerging cocoa notes.   Ideal with steaks, this wine also pairs well with lamb, game, mushroom dishes, and medium to sharp cheeses.   Try it with dark chocolate! 
• This wine was very good and I was very interested to try it since we had had quite a few others that day on our tour. This Franc was very good and very well balanced, but in my opinion there was nothing to it that set it apart from other Cabernet Franc's that I have had in the past.

• Chateau Morrisette Chambourcin-  Chambourcin 2010: Aromas of plums and berries lift from this dark violet wine, augmented by gentle notes of black tea.  Tasting quickly fills the mouth with rich fruitiness, suggesting cherries and blueberries.  Silky and soft, this medium to full bodied wine features a fruity and exceptionally long finish, revealing glimmers of black pepper.  Chambourcin is an exceptionally smooth and food-friendly wine.  Enjoy it with grilled meats, sausages, roasted poultry, and dishes with mushrooms. 
• This wine was again one that we had tried at a couple wineries that day and this one was quite good. It had a very good balance and it was very tasty in many aspects. I actually picked up a bottle of this from the tasting.

After tasting of these 2 wines, my friends completed a full tasting, but being as I was the one selected to drive for the day I then had to cut it off there just to be safe. Overall the trip to Chateau Morrisette was very interesting and a very fun experience. It was a lot of fun to see a very successful winery that is located in southwest Virginia and how large one has become. I did not realize many aspects of Chateau Morrisette that I learned while there, like the fact that they have many vineyards all over the state to grow different grapes. I did not realize that was somewhat normal practice and was very interested to learn that. On our way out we got the lady working there to snap a picture of us in the tasting room just before we left:

Spencer, Austin and me at Chateau Morrisette

and then also one of us in front of the wagon out front:

Serious face outside of Chateau Morrisette

Overall it was a great day and I would love to go back and spend some more time there and enjoy more of their wine.