The wine building
Wine tasting bar inside
The man who poured our tastings for us was extremely knowledgeable about all of the wines that Chateau Morrisette offered, even about the ones that weren't on the tasting menu. We were able to try 15 wines, which was five more than what was on the menu. If anyone asked about a certain wine that wasn't on the main tasting list, he would gladly pour it for us. Chateau Morrisette was almost the exact opposite of Attimo, which wad previously visited. At Attimo, all of their reds were very good, while their whites were fairly bland. At Morrisette, the opposite was true. Even though reds are typically my favorites, the ones we tasted were all pretty tasteless, all lacking a good tannic structure. My favorites of the day were the cherry and blackberry wines, the Angel Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc, and their fortified Heritage wine.
The wine tasting menu. The rest of their selections were on the back.
This was the first time I had ever had non-grape fruit wines, and they were all pretty good. We tried the cherry and blackberry wines, which each tasted like their respective fruits, unsurprisingly. Our server recommended using the cherry wine when cooking dessert, which I thought was a great idea, and plan to do so. The blackberry wine tasted like blackberry cobbler. I ended up buying a bottle of this at a later date, and mixed it with some red zinfandel. It was actually very good mixed with an extremely bold and tannic wine. My favorite of the day was the Heritage wine, which was fortified with brandy and aged in oak for 27 months. It was very dark and smoky and alcoholic, but was very smooth and even a little sweet. Although it was also pretty expensive, so I opted to take home a bottle of the Angel Chardonnay. Typically, I find chardonnay to be very bland and unispiring, but this was mixed with small parts of riesling, viogner, and vidal blanc, and was very good. It might even be one of the best white wines I've ever had. Afterwards, we sat out on the patio while my date drank a glass of wine and I watched. Someone had to be the designated driver.
My date and I.
After we finished tasting the wine, we went a a quick tour of the winery. The loading and storage area for all of the barrels of wine was in a large room behind the tasting room. We learned that the entire building was made from reclaimed wood, and when it was built was the largest reclaimed building in the world. The dog on the label of all of their wines was inspired by Hans, the family dog, who drank all of the wine spills and sat around in their cellars drunk all day. Most of their wines were fermented in large steel tanks, and then aged in either American or French oak, depending on the wine. Only 10% of their wines come from their own vineyards, while the rest come from other areas in Virginia.
Fermentation tanks
In the back of the building, we were shown where they bottle, label, and package the wine. On operation days, they can process over 20 thousand bottles of wine. This occurs year-round, because different wines come of age at different times.
Bottling room
I had a lot of fun at Chateau Morrisette, and would definitely go back. Now I know two great places in Virginia to get wine!
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