Chateau Morrisette Winery

Chateau Morrisette Winery is a winery in Floyd, Virginia. It was founded in 1980.

Chateau Morrisette
Location	Floyd, Virginia, USA
Appellation	Rocky Knob AVA
Founded	1980
Key people	David Morrisette, President, Dan Tallman, Director of Winemaking, Rick Hall, Winemaker
Cases/yr	70,000
Varietals	Chardonnay, Viognier, Chambourcin, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Tannat, Vidal Blanc
Website	http://www.thedogs.com/

Description

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 171.5. Noted for producing varietal and proprietary blended award-winning wines since 1980, it is one of the largest and oldest wineries in Virginia^{[citation needed]}. Open year round to the public, the winery also features a restaurant and offers activities throughout the year.^[1]

History

Main Cellar

In 1978, William, Nancy and David Morrisette planted the first vines in the rural Virginia countryside. David Morrisette became Château Morrisette’s first official winemaker. In 1982, the first commercial wines were produced, about 2,000 gallons. Wine production is now in excess of 70,000 cases. The Winery underwent an expansion and modernization in 1999, including a new wine production facility and hospitality center. Blue Ridge Timberwrights constructed a building from salvaged timber from the St. Marie River and from a Seattle warehouse to create one of the largest^{[citation needed]} salvaged timber frame buildings in North America: 32,365 square feet (3,006.8 m²) with over 132,000 board feet of recycled Douglas-fir timbers.

Thi production building houses over 160,000 gallons of stainless steel tank capacity, 50,000 gallons of capacity in French and American oak barrels, a twenty-two ton press and a bottling line with the capacity of 2,000 cases per shift. Château Morrisette utilizes grape production from its own vineyards and from independent growers. The winery sources many of their quality grapes from across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

References

1. ^ "Chateau Morrisette - Wineries - VirginiaWine.org". Virginia Wine. http://www.virginiawine.org/wineries/chateau-morrisette. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 

External links

• Chateau Morrisette Official website