Winery visit - Chateau Morrisette

The view from the Blue Ridge Parkway

I needed some points to help finish my semester-long introduction to wine strong so I made an impromptu trip to Chateau Morrisette this past Saturday after work.  The drive to Morrisette from Blacksburg finishes on the Blue Ridge Parkway and wow, the vistas there are amazing.  Really, I can only imagine how scenic the drive would be in the Fall with the leaves changing colors.  As you drive up to the estate, it’s clear that the name of the winery fits the grounds and architecture.  The buildings have that Continental European look and the backdrop of the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains makes for a fantastic setting. There’s a restaurant on site in addition to the production facility and tasting building.

I just described my initial impression of the place and I would not have been at all surprised to find an air of pretentiousness with the staff at the Chateau.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Everyone I came across was extremely friendly and hospitable.  I immediately joined a tasting conducted by an expert and engaging guide, Roberto.  As it turns out, the expertise and ability of the tasting-guide really makes a difference on your impression of the wines and the quality of the estate.  I had to cut my tasting short to go on the final scheduled tour of the day. 

The main winery building

Production facility

Ray, our tour guide, gave an informative and entertaining tour of the production facility.  In fact, he tells us that the main building of the Chateau Morrisette is the largest recycled building in the country.  Apparently, the founder of estate wanted to make his winery as environmentally-friendly as possible and had virtually all of the parts of the building imported prior to and during construction—most notably, wood panels from a building near the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada. Using my visit to the Barboursville Vineyards last week as a reference point, Chateau Morrisette’s facilities were very impressive--particularly the scale of production.  In fact, Morrisette’s production facilities have a 230,000 gallon capacity. Ray also said that Chateau Morrisette was founded roughly around the same time as Barboursville and many of the other well-known Virginia wineries.  Finished a great tour and went back to the tasting.

Production equipment

All and all, there were 11 wines on the day’s tasting list and Roberto threw in two others that weren’t on the list.  Here are some quick reviews of what I tasted:

2011 Chardonnay:  This wine was fruity on the nose, dry and acidic on the palate, and had a little spiciness on the finish.  I liked it.

2011 Chambourcin:  This wine was grassy on the nose, crisper than the Chardonnay, and had low tannins.  Again, a pretty good wine.

2011 Pinot Noir:  This wine had cherry on the nose and palate.  It really brought back my faith in the possibilities of Pinot Noir after a bad experience I had with it last month.  I like it so much I ended up picking up a bottle.

2008 Merlot: This wine smelled like a port.  The tannins came through and it was spicy on the finish.  This wine was just OK.

The Black Dog:  This is apparently the signature wine produced by the Chateau.  I actually saw some bottles on this at Kroger a few hours ago.  This is a blended wine like the Octagon I had last week at the Barboursville Vineyards.  Unlike the Octagon, the fruit is upfront and it has hints of black pepper.  This is a really good wine.

Angel Chardonnay:  This wine had a citrus-y aroma.  On the palate it was smooth, crisp, and sweet.

Our Dog Blue:  This wine was also citrus-y on the nose.  I thought it was really sweet but Roberto suggested that I try to differentiate between natural fruit sweetness and sugar sweetness, which meant that this wine was not as sweet as the next couple I was about to taste. 

Red Mountain Laurel: On the nose, you had fresh grape. This was another sweet wine.  They recommended trying this over ice with a slice of orange. 

Blackberry Wine: On the nose, you had dark berries.  This wine was sweet and smooth.  It’s made from 100 percent blackberries.  They recommend it be served chilled.

Sweet Mountain Apple: Not surprisingly you had fresh apples on the nose.  It was sweet and crisp.

More scenery

This visit to Morrisette was a great follow-up to last weekend’s visit to Barboursville.  Even though it’s been many years since I last visited several Napa Valley wineries, I must say that these two Virginia wineries compare very favorably to those wineries.  If I had to compare the two wineries I visited during the last two weekends, I’d say there’s more history at the area immediately surrounding the Barboursville Vineyards but I thought the setting and vistas at the Morrisette were much more impressive.  The quality of the wines that I tasted at the two wineries were similar—great quality that is.  Overall, my visit to Chateau Morrisette was a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon and I’ll definitely make plans to go back and dine at the restaurant next time.