Winery Visit-Chateau Morrisette

On Saturday, April 21st my close friend and I braved the impending storm to visit the well acclaimed Chateau Morrisette.  Chateau Morrisette is located right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, but of course our GPS told us to take the dangerous, unpaved back road, which made the ride their very curvy and bumpy.  Once our little car survived that little adventure we were immediately captivated by the elegance of Chateau Morrisette.  The staff immediately welcomed us to the property and a friendly valet driver quickly offered to park our car for us.  Chateau Morrisette has a separate building that contains their well reviewed restaurant and is the first building you notice when you drive onto the property.  The design and architecture of the restaurant and winery blend well with the rural aspects of Floyd.  I particularly liked the rock fountain right by the parking lot, because it sets a relaxing and calming tone for the experience. 

Once we entered the winery we were amazed by the beautifully adorned main entrance with a classic chandelier and wooden balcony in which visitors may look down and enjoy the atmosphere of it all.  Apparently we went on a good day, because the staff informed us that it was an official open house day, which meant our tasting was complimentary.  Unfortunately, because the tasting was free we were unable to keep our wine glass, but I was thankful to save a few bucks.  The local kennel club was hosting an event when we went so we were unable to take a tour of the winery, because that part was closed off.  Many wine enthusiasts brought their dogs with them so I was overwelmed with all the cuteness that surrounded me.  The tasting area reminded me of a classic tavern bar with classic, dark wood and dim lighting.  Our tasting included 10 of Chateau Morrisette's well esteemed wines with an array of different types that included red, white, and dessert:

• 2010 Chardonnay- boasting 13.3% alcohol, this Chardonnay was higher in alcohol than most white wines I've tasted thus far.  I don't typically like Chardonnays, but I found this one to be a light and refreshing change from the typically over buttery characteristics of old world Chardonnays.  On the nose I could detect vegetable, soil aromas, which are commonly found from the oak barrel fermentation process.  On the palate, it tasted sour, tart, could definitely feel the pucker sensation often found when biting into a green apple.  Wouldn't mind drinking this wine during warm summer nights out on my back porch, very light and easy drinking.
• Independence- a blended wine made from Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Riesling, and Chardonnay grapes with 12.2% alcohol.  I wasn't very impressed with this wine, seemed a bit dull with very little aroma to detect.  This is a very light, easy drinking wine with very subtle flavors.  There wasn't enough going on in this wine to entice or excite me.
• 2011 Dry Rose-made by extracting juice from the grapes prior to fermentation allows for the pink color of the wine.  This wine is best paired with fish and other lean proteins and is best suited for light summer meals.  I found this wine to be very sweet, yet no visible fruit or other flavors from this wine. 
• 2010 Chambourcin- 12.5% alcohol this a light bodied and light violet red wine. Black pepper and spice are definitely evident in this light red wine with subtle plum and berries to balance the heat from this wine.  This wine would particularly pair well with dark chocolate as well as grilled meats and mushrooms.  Although I wasn't particularly impressed with any of Chateau Morrisette's red wines I found this one to be my favorite of the ones I tried.
• 2010 Cabernet Franc- medium-bodied red wine, one of Virginia's best planted grape varieties with plenty of spice and heat on the mid palate.  This best pairs with spaghetti, marinara sauce and steak dishes.  Dark raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries are welcomed from this medium-bodied wine.  This wine was a little too dry and had a little too much spice for my liking, which is rather disappointing since this considered Virginia's premier grape.
• 2008 Petit Verdot: the server informed us that this is Chateau Morrisette's special wine and should be paired with higher cuts of meats and cheeses.  This wine was appealing, because it was velvety and smooth without being overly dry like many red wines can be.  The berry components were not detected during my sampling, but perhaps that can only be extracted when paired with food. 
• The Black Dog: blend of Chambourcin, Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot and is described as a semi-dry red wine.  On the nose it was very earthy, soil, nature aromas that are common from oak barreling red wines.  I found this wine to be a bit too sweet for a red wine for my wine preference. 
• Our Dog Blue: a semi-sweet blend of Riesling-Traminette blend with the addition of Vidal Blanc and Petit Mensanf for depth and character.  On the nose I was excited to find pear and melon components that would indicate a light and refreshing white wine.  This wine is perfect for easy, summer drinking because it is light and refreshing, but isn't too overly sweet.  I would certainly like to drink this wine again.
• Sweet Mountain Laurel: this was the first dessert wine I tried and was made from Native American grape varieties.  This both tasted and smelled like grape juice, way too sweet for me.  I couldn't even tell that this was a wine that I was trying
• 2010 Frosty Dog: this was the last wine we tried for our tasting and was by far the absolute sweetest wine of the day.  This dessert wine is special, because they freeze the grapes in concented juice to heighten the sugar content of the wine.  This wine could stand alone as the dessert for the wine, that's how overwhelmingly sweet it was.  To me this wine tasted artifically sugary like sweet tarts or lemon heads with corn syrup rather than real sugar.  Not a wine I'd look for again.

After completing the tasting my friend and I enjoyed a nice relaxing picnic outside on one of the outside tables at the front of the winery.  We decided to be adventurous and buy a wine we didn't get to sample, which was the Liberty.  The Liberty was a blended red wine with Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  At first I was very excited to try this wine, because I typically like blends that include Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but I found this wine to be rather bland and didn't really have any strong characteristics to entice my taste buds.  However, the laid back atmosphere overlooking the beautiful mountainous landscape more than made up for it.  Unfortunately, the picnic had to be cut short, because there was a nasty storm heading our way and we didn't want to be caught outside in the downpour.  I hope to return to Chateau Morrisette someday and would love to bring my mom, she'd love the architecture and laid back atmosphere of this country vineyard.