Winery Visit Chateau Morrisette

On Saturday April 26th, me and three other students in the class went to Chateau Morrisette for a winery tour and taste test.  This was my first trip ever to a winery to see the process of wine making in action and all of the actual tools and machinery that is used in the process.

Winery Sign 

Chateau Morrisette

This winery is located in Floyd Virginia, approximately an hour away from Virginia Tech.  To start the tour we learned a little bit about the history of the winery.  This winery was purchased and built in the 1970's.  The family son went to Mississippi State to learn wine making and came back in the 80's to start creating wine at the winery.  They started off originally making one red and one white wine.  This winery has a interesting tale to tell about how one of their dogs kept getting drunk off of a leaky wine barrel which caused him to get sick.  When they realized the problem they fixed it and the dog stopped getting sick.  When the dog passed away they put the dog on both the white and red bottle labels and the sales for the red wine increased 200% and sales for white increased 600%. 

Me with the Dog

During the tour we learned that they grow their grapes on 13.5 acres and the grapes are brought in on crates that they stack while waiting to be crushed.  They are then thrown into the tumbler to separate the grapes and put into their Italian made grape crushers.  The wine is then fermented kept in their Hungarian, French, and American oak barrels. A black paw print is put on barrels which was the favorite dog.

Grape Crates

Italian Grape Crusher

Steel Fermentation Drums

Oak Barrels Used for Storage

The wine is then then bottles and labeled and boxed up for consumers to purchase.

Wine Bottler

Following the tour we went back inside the winery for a wine tasting in which we tasted many of wines made on site.

Wine Glass Used in Tasting

The wines we tasted during this event include their:

Chardonnay Reserve: Tasted fruity, very lemony, crisp and buttery.  This wine was oak aged.

2012 Vidal Blanc: This wine smelled like pears, and apples.  There was also a significant citrus flavor.  The wine was soft and clean but also kind of sour.

2014 Vin Gris:  This wine smelled like strawberries and peaches.  Tasted additional raspberry hints as well.  

2011 Pinot Noir: This wine also smelled like strawberries and raspberries.  The wine was quite sour tasting and somewhat smokey.

2012 Archival 1: This wine smelled like cherries.  There was also a strong spicy nose and tasted very peppery. I did not enjoy this wine.

The Black Dog:  Smelled like blackberries.  It had a very strong aroma that was fruity.  This wine was light and smooth.

Nouveau Chien:  This had the smell of fruity or nectar.  The wine was kind of sweet but had a tart aftertaste.

Farmhouse Sangria:  The sangria wine has a lime and cherry taste.  This was a very fruity wine that was quite enjoyable.

Red Muscadine:  This wine had a very weird smell, something similar to a gumball.  It was sparkling and crisp.  The wine tasted very sweet and fruity.

Sweet Mountain Apple:  This wine can best be described as similar to cider.  It was very strong in apple flavor and smell.

Overall, the winery visit was a great experience that gave me a better understanding of the wine making process.  I would love to visit again as well as visit other wineries now that I have been to one.  This winery was especially beautiful and fancy.  I would recommend this winery to my friends and family

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