Chateau Morrisette Winery Visit

On Saturday April 7th, my best friend, Melissa, and I visited Chateau Morrisette, we took a tour and did a tasting of 10 of their wines. This was my first time visiting a winery and participating in a wine tasting.

The tour was more educational about how the winery started then about how the wine was actually made, but overall the 20 minute tour was worth the time and was even better since it was free! I learned a lot about Chateau Morisette's wine production during the tour, including that they make 75,000 cases of wine every year, they harvest during September and October and most interestingly that they do not grow their own grapes due to high elevation and clay on their property but do keep their wines 85% Virginia grapes. I found it interesting that they did not control that part of the wine crafting process.

Roberto starting our tour by the crushing pad. 

What they do control is everything after the thousands of grapes are delivered from all over the state of Virginia (and a few out of state). Our guide, Roberto took us around the winery and showed us the ins and outs of the wine crafting process at Chateau Morisette. The first part of this process is crushing and smashing the grapes, done by machines seen above.

Where the fermentation process begins!

The second part of the process is fermentation which happens in these ginormous stainless steel tanks, pictured above where refrigeration packs bring the grape juice down to about 50 degrees fahrenheit. This process takes anywhere from 1-3 weeks and is where the crafting of the wine begins.

Oak barrels used for aging red wines.

Once fermentation is complete, the red wine is moved into oak barrels, where it stays for 10-20 months depending on the year and the winemakers preference.

At the end of our tour, we participated in the wine tasting. The wine tasting included 10 Chateau Morissette wines ranging from dry to off-dry to sweet.

• 2010 Chardonnay: I was very excited to try this, but overall was disappointed. Our guide Roberto said many don't like this wine by itself but it is much better with foods such as crab, lobster and poultry. I think I would have enjoyed this wine much better with food, as for the taste I tasted a heavy note of green apple with a background of the alcohol. Unfortunately for me the worst part of this wine was the after burn.
• Independence: This blend of Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay was a pleasant balance of acid and sweet. It was a refreshing wine that heavily favored acid flavors such as grapefruit. This would not be my first choice wine, but I would like to try it again paired with food.
• Liberty: I am generally not a fan of red wine, but this blended red wine was light and fruity while still having a rich aroma without being overpowering. It had a tangy background flavor which I found intriguing and a fruity, mainly cherry flavor upfront.
• 2008 Merlot: When I first smelled this wine I thought I would hate it. It had strong cherry and plum aromas that were very bold. As I tasted it the plum flavor was really enhanced which I enjoyed and it had a very smooth and pleasant finish.
• 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine was by far the heaviest red wine we tasted and my least favorite. Immediately when I smelled it a strong alcohol aroma was present followed by spice and cherry, three of my least favorite wine notes. When I tasted it the wine was very heavy in tannins with an overwhelming flavor of cherry.
• The Black Dog: Our guide described this as a red table wine, that pairs well with most foods and is liked by many. Unfortunately I was not one of these many. Although this red wine was not incredibly robust and bold which is often what I do not like about red, it did have many flavors and aromas I did not enjoy. The wine tasted like spicy plum juice and had a particularly spicy backend which I found to be the worst part of the wine. 
• 2010 Vidal Blanc: I was skeptical of this wine at first because our guide described this as similar to Sauvignon Blanc, which is not one of my favorite white wines. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this wine it was sweet upfront with acidity following. The aroma was sweet and floral but not overpowering. This was a very smooth mouthfeel with a great balance of acidity and sweet.
• Our Dog Blue: I found this wine very refreshing, something I would enjoy on a picnic or lunch on the patio. It was a semi-sweet wine with citrus, melon and apricot flavors. I would like to try this wine with cheese or light appetizers like bruschetta. 
• Red Mountain Laurel: This was the first classified sweet wine we tasted and I was surprised that I actually found it to be overly sweet. I could not really find any other flavors or aromas other than sweetness. Overall, it tasted like a light refreshing alcoholic grape juice.
• Blackberry Wine: This was the wine I was looking forward to during the entire tasting. I had never had any fruit wine and had heard good things about Blackberry wine in the past. Unfortunately, this one was not the one for me. It had a bad mouthfeel that created a burning sensation on my tongue, and the flavor was not much better. It was 100% Oregon Blackberries and was similar to the previous wine tasting like alcoholic, sweet blackberry juice.

Overall, the tour and tasting at Chateau Morisette was a really great experience. I enjoyed seeing how they craft their wine and am excited to visit other Virginia wineries that also have vineyards. I enjoyed tasting all of the different wines they have to offer, even if they were not all to my taste it was great to see the variety of both varietal and blended wines they offer.