Winery Visit - Chateau Morrisette

My wife and I finally decided to visit Chateau Morrisette winery on March 8th, 2014. The journey to get there was not easy at all. We were supposed to participate in 11:00 am tour, but we left our place late, so I was in a hurry to get there on time. When we almost got to the blue ridge parkway, we found that the parkway was closed due to snow. My old GPS couldn't find alternate route, and our phones were out of service. So we decided to go back home. On our way back home near the town of Floyd, I was able to call the winery, and they told me the correct direction to get there. Finally, after almost two hours of brutal and exhausting country road driving, we were able to get there safely.

Blue Ridge Parkway Entrance shown

The beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It looked like the road was cleared and weather was very nice, but we found out in about 5 minutes that the rest of the road to the winery was closed due to too much snow on top of the mountain portion of the road

Closed Parkway on the right side of the photo shown

The park way was closed as you can see the left side of the road was still covered with snow and the gate was closed. So if you plan to visit the winery, make sure that the parkway is open or you will be lost and waste a lot of time trying to find the alternate route.

Chateau Morrisette Entrance shown

After numerous calls to the winery, we were able to arrive at the winery. We were late, but we were happy and glad that we got there safely. We missed 11:00 am tour, but they had  1:00 pm one, so we were relieved. The first entrance on the right is the restaurant and the second one is for the winery. Either one will get you to either place, so don't worry =) 

This photo was taken from the winery main building towards the parking lot and the restaurant

The parking lot was not paved, so it was full of mud and melting snow everywhere, so it was kind of hard to walk around the parking lot with just a pair of sneakers. So check the weather condition a day or two before you plan to arrive, so you can be prepared!

In front of Chateau Morrisette winery main building. I know I know I did my best!! =)

The founder of Chateau Morrisette, William Morrisette, passed away on March 4th, 2014 in Greensboro, NC. He was 90 years old.

William Morissette began experimenting with grape growing in the early 1970s on the advice of the Virginia Tech Fruit and Science Department. After graduating from Mississippi State University's Viticulture and Entomology program. He and his wife started making wines in two 5 gallon buckets, one red and one white. He discovered a cave on his property and he decided to installed two tanks to make wine as a hobby, and then he decided to plant a vineyard, so he planted a vineyards up on the lower slope of Sugarloaf mountain. He planted Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. They were all red, and he named his red wine "Trilogy" and his white wine "Virginia Riesling."

After His son, David, was graduated from the college studying the viticulture, They started making wines, and David Morrisette became the first winemaker of the family. In honor of his dog, David changed the name of the red wine from Trilogy to the Black Dog, and the sales went up 200%. He also changed label of the white wine from Virginia Riesling to Our Dog Blue to honor his father's dog, and the sales went up 600%. That's when he realized and decided that he put a dog on his wine label. 

Chateau Morrisette's Grape Crushers shown

The grape crusher machines were not operational at the time of visit due to the inclement weather. When they operates, those machines process 20000 pounds of grapes at a time, and the bigger crusher can process up to 40000 pounds of grapes every 75 minutes.   

Main Lobby area shown at the main winery building.

As soon as we walked into the main building, we were encountered by very vintage and classical looking interior of the building. The height of the ceiling was 55 feet from the floor to the top of the ceiling with gigantic metal chandelier in the middle of it. I felt like I was inside of the small castle somewhere in Europe.

The history of Chateau Morrisette displayed by the main entrance door

Displayed red and white wines inside the main winery building.

The first thing you see is the wines. A lot of wines!! you can choose from the great amount of wine selection with descriptions and prices. Also they sell a lot of wine related items, such as magnets, glasses, mugs, souvenirs, postcards, little toys, wine accessories, fleece, t shirts, and so on. 

Wine tasting area shown

There were about 10 wine tasting stations in the main building. we paid $8 per person for the tasting at the front counter. There were enough staffs, so that they did 1:1 wine tasting which was very helpful because we were able to ask a lot of questions, so that we could learn as much as we could.

Photo time with our wine tasting staff who was very friendly and knowledgeable

We did 10 different wine tastings and we got to keep the glasses with green dog logo on it. The staffs were all very friendly and knowledgeable, so that we were able to get answers for our questions regarding the characteristic of the wines and their background information

Time to start the winery tour and our tour guide shown

Our winery tour guide showed up on time, and he started explaining the history of the winery and the founder. We were informed that the founder of the winery, William Morrisette was passed away several days ago. He was very kind and humorous, and he answered all the questions we had without hesitation.

Our guide showed us inside of the winery full of wine barrels and tanks

As we finished the history portion of the tour, he took us to the back side of the main building which was full of wine barrels, tanks, and all the wine making equipment. Also, this place was full of oak aroma which he forgot to warn us before we entered the facility. =)

When the grapes come in for the first time, they get washed in order to remove yeast on the grapes in order to control the yeast during the fermentation process. Then they go through de-stemer that separates the stems from the grapes. They let the juice setting for a day and begin heating up to 69 degrees, and then the juice will be put into the stainless steel tanks for fermentation process which they yeast and sometimes sugar if necessary. 

The fermentation process takes about 3-4 months in the stainless steel tanks depending on the wine. All the varietal wines go into the American Oak barrels, and they will be aged for 15-18 months. 

Stainless Steel Tanks shown with our tour guide leading us through the tanks and barrels

All the whites other than Chardonnay stay in the stainless steel tanks. Each Oak barrel holds 59 gallons which is equivalent to 295 bottles. Each stainless steel tank holds 6200 gallons and 31000 bottles out of each tank. Each tank has built in heating and cooling liners in order to maintain the constant temperature. Last year, they made 15000 gallons of wine which is equivalent to 750,000 bottles.

Bottling Area with automated bottling machines shown

The bottling area was separated from the rest of the facility in order to keep it clean and sterile. During the typical bottling week, Monday is the setup day when they setup bottling and labeling machine. From Tuesday through Friday is clean up day when they clean and sanitize every parts of the machines and equipment. Sanitizing is done with only steam and industrial grade Vodka.

The first stage is sanitizing stage of the bottle, and then it goes through the liquid nitrogen blasting in order to remove all the oxygen and air from the bottle. Then the bottles go through the fill station where the wines get filled inside the bottle. 

Labeling and packing facility shown

After the bottles get sealed with the corks, they go to the last stage which is labeling and packaging for the shipping. 

The view inside the winery/storage facility. Bottled wines along with barreled wines shown in the picture

All the bottled wines stay at the winery storage for about six weeks before they get shipped out. Each beige colored plastic bin holds 1000 pounds of grapes shown in the middle of the picture above.

Various Awards shwon in the picture along with some wines

Chateau Morrisette has been winning various awards since opening and they recently won the Governor's cup and won a sliver on three of their wines. Also 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon won a silver in  Napa valley.

Nice view from the winery parking lot

This was my very first winery visit and my wife and I were very impressed and learned a lot of new information about wine, wine making process, and the history behind it. It was a bit of long and tiring drive from Blacksburg due to the poor and hazardous road conditions, but it was well worth it. We will definitely come back for more wine tasting and the restaurant where we will taste fine wines with different kinds of food.