My friends and I did a winery visit to Chateau Morrisette! We absolutely loved our experience and we all can't wait to come back. This is such a hidden gem in SWVA, they have so many events including a girl's night! We walked in and were immediately greeted and asked if we wanted to do a free tasting. We tried many wines, took a tour and then went to the restaurant for some delicious food. Inside of the winery Some wines we tasted We tried 10 different wines. They gave us a paper that explained the wines and I used the paper to rate them. They were put in three different categories, sweet, red and white. Here are my ratings: Our Dog Blue: A very famous wine of theirs and wine I have tried before. I rated it a 9/10. It is a Riesling and was very refreshing. It is mixed with a dry white grape, Traminette. Sweet Mountain Laurel: I rated this a 10/10. This is exactly what I want in a wine. It was sweet and refreshing. It tased like I was just sucking on the grape that they made this out of. It is made from a ripe Niagara grape. Red Mountain Laurel: I also rated this a 10/10 (obviously I am not hard to please). It reminded me of sparkling welches juice. It's made from fresh Concord and Niagara grape. Farmhouse Sangria: Also rated a 10/10! It smelled like oranges, and it tasted like a fancy fruit punch (which is exactly what was described to us). It is a sweet red wine infused with cherry, orange and lime. 2020 Chardonnay: I rated this a 7/10. It was my second favorite white they let us try. It was fermented in stainless steel and it had notes of grapefruit. 2023 Chardonnay: I rated this a 4/10... It was not my favorite. It is explained as a clean balance of citrus, vanilla and toasted oak. I just tasted the dryness. 2023 Vidal Blanc: I rated this a 9/10. It was delicious! It had a strong citrus taste, mostly lemon. It had a smooth finish and had hints of peach as well. This wine won the 2024 and 2025 Governor's Cup Silver Winner and it makes sense why! 2023 Chambourcin: This ended up being my favorite wine. I rated it an 8.5/10 on the paper but honestly it is a 10/10. It's made with cranberry, chocolate and black pepper. I was not expecting it to be so good but you can taste and smell the pepper which I surprisingly loved. This wine also won a 2025 Governor's Cup Silver. 2017 Cab Sauvignon: I rated this a 9/10. It had notes of plum, green tea, dried flowers and vanilla. It was delicious. You could really taste the plum and smell the vanilla. 2021 Cab Sauvignon: I rated this a 9.5/10. It had notes of cedar and walnut mixed with red fruit. It had a very smooth finish and was silky. It won the 2025 Governor's Cup Gold Winner just last month! Stainless Steel Tanks Wine Barrels Our lovely tour guide took us to their back room where they keep and ferment their wines. Everything was so grand and looked very expensive. They had multiple oak barrels that they were storing wine in as well as giant stainless-steel tanks that they kept and fermented some of their wines in. Stainless Steel Tanks Stained Oak Barrel Some of their oak barrels were stained with red wine. Our tour guide told us that wines in these old barrels usually have better and richer taste. She told us the process of checking the wine, there are ladders and walkways above the stainless-steel tanks. They open up the top of the tanks and check on the wine. She said to be very careful! These are high pressure tanks, and the wine is very hot inside of them. She told us a story of someone not checking to see the pressure and heat of the wine before opening a tank and they got a third degree burn on their arm. Bottling and Labeling Machine She showed us this machine that puts the wine into the bottles and labels them. After they come out they are taste tested. If more than two wines from that batch don't taste correctly, they throw out the entire batch because they know something went wrong. They have vineyards on the property but they also get grapes shipped in from a vineyard in California. The vineyard in California doesn't make wine and ships grapes out to winemakers. Charcuterie Board My friends walking into the restaurant I ended up ordering the chambourcin at the restaurant because I loved it so much. This charcuterie board was delicious; we split it evenly between the four of us. My favorite part was the little pickled red peppers they were super yummy. It was brie, gruyere and cheddar. They were all very delicious. Brussel Sprout Appetizer French Dip Sandwich with Onion Rings We all shared the Brussel sprout appetizer. They were delicious and crispy and packed with flavor. For dinner I got a french dip sandwich with onion rings. The onions rings were battered perfectly, probably the best onion rings I've had. The sandwich was also delicious and paired really well with my peppery wine. This dinner was honestly really affordable for what we got, I paid a little under $30 for a meal, a glass of wine and we split the appetizers. They also brought us blankets because it was cold outside.

Wine Dinner #3

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 My friend and I with one of the wines

Our third and final wine dinner! We have had so much fun doing these and are sad they are coming to an end. For this dinner we had honey glazed salmon, honey roasted carrots and loaded mashed potatoes! (Thank you to farmhouse for this amazing dinner). We paired our three different dishes with a buttery chardonnay, a pinot noir, and a cabernet sauvignon. 

Our dinner! (Not as pretty as we wanted it to be but still delicious!)

Pinot Noir and Honey Glazed Salmon: The Pinot Noir by itself had a cherry smell. It was woody and tannin-y. It was not a dry as I expected for being a Pinot Noir and had deep cherry flavor. It paired really well with the salmon. The wine cut the fishiness of the salmon, and the honey flavor blended very well with the cherry flavors of the wine. The salmon brought out the berry in the wine. The salmon wasn't as good as it was when I first got it, so I think it brought down the experience a little, but I'll definitely ask for this wine if I'm lucky enough to go back to farmhouse for this same meal.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Mashed Potatoes: I am not a huge fan of cabernet sauvignon, and this one didn't change my mind when I tasted it by itself. It had a really acidic/vinegar smell with a hint of cherry. It was a little dry and you could taste the cherry and some other red fruit; it was sweeter than most wines of this type that I tried. Although I am not a huge fan of cabernet sauvignon this pairing was amazing! The saltiness of the bacon in the potatoes and the cheesiness paired so well with this wine. The mixture of sweet and salty was soooo good! The potatoes brought out the fruit in the wine and made it taste so much better. 

Buttery Chardonnay and Honey Roasted Carrots: The chardonnay on its own was refreshing yet creamy at the same time. It didn't have a strong smell, but it tasted pretty good! It had hints of vanilla and pineapple. It paired really well with the carrots! The sourness and acidity of the wine blended well with the sweetness of the carrots. The wine cut the intense sweetness of the carrots, and it made the wine more refreshing.

                                                                 Our selection of wines

Safe to say this was a delicious dinner and we have gotten better at pairing wines and foods! We will probably continue on this tradition even if it is not for a grade.

Tasting California Heritage

Name: California Heritage

Varietal: Merlot

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: Not labeled

Price: $5.99

Wine Folly: Wine folly says Merlot is loved for its boisterous black cherry flavors, supple tannins, and smoky or chocolaty finish.  

Online Review:  This wine is deep, ruby hued with aromas of dark plum. Red currant, dried herbs, and dark chocolate on the nose. The flavors on the palate are Blackberry confiture, concord grape jam, orange zest, layered with dried eucalyptus, sweet tannins, and a dry finish. (wineenthusiast.com)

My Review: It had a very chemical smell and floral. It had a hint of vanilla but the tartness of it overpowered everything else. It is supposed to have a dark berry taste, but it is very tart and dry. This was not my favorite wine. The Merlot wasn't the worst thing ever for five dollars, but I would not buy again

Tasting Sunshine Bliss

Name: Sunshine Bliss

Varietal: White grape wine

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: Not labeled

Price: $4.99

Wine Folly: There isn't a specific type of wine on the bottle, but I think it is best compared to Riesling. Wine Folly says Riesling can range from sweet to dry and is best paired with spicy Indian and Asian foods.

Online Review:  Silvery straw color. Aromas of peach gummy rings, raspberry leaves, canned pear, and dried wildflowers with a light-to-medium body and a short-to-medium melon and peach hard candies, mango rings, and fruit punch finish. A pleasant peach party in your mouth.

My Review: It smelled very strongly like peach. It was very light and a refreshing wine but not my favorite taste. It tasted like artificial peach and had hints of citrus; I tasted lemon. It reminded me of a peach tart candy. It wasn't as sweet as I thought it was going to be due to the citrus.

Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting

 

Name: Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Central Valley

Country: Chile

Year: Not labeled

Price: $4.99

Wine Folly: Wine folly says the cabernet sauvignon has a rich flavor and high tannin content. The world's most popular wine is a natural cross between cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc.

Online review: I’m simply floored by the aromas coming from this wine… it’s wonderful, however only moderate in intensity.  Cherry and blackberry make up the fruit, but there is also a nice dusty, herbal quality to this wine that I would describe as tomato leaf, tobacco and leather.  The palate has plenty of fruit flavors, like blackberry, cherry and plum.  I can’t say it extraordinary complexity beyond the fruit on the palate, but it’s still a very enjoyable wine.  The tannins are soft and pleasing.  The bottom line, this is a great wine for the price.  Very enjoyable. (cheapwineratings.com)

My review: It smelled very dark and chocolatey/ a deep berry. It had a slight perfume smell. It tasted woody and had a dark berry taste. It was surprisingly not bitter and slightly sweet. It was very affordable. It tasted very good!

Redvolution Tasting

 

Name: Bota Box RedVolution

Varietal: Red blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: Not labeled

Price: $4.99

Online Review: RedVolution is one of those ideal red blends. They don’t say what’s in it but it’s very smooth and exhibits a subtle smoky quality. The box says cherries and cocoa and I would agree with that claim. I’ve never gotten a headache from RedVolution and even though it’s packs a wallop at 13.5% alcohol, it doesn’t hit me very hard. The perfect end to a 14+ hour day of dealing with stressful idiots and then trying to teach myself to be smart is a delicious and calming glass of RedVolution. (trustthedevilyouknow.com)

Wine Folly: Wine Folly says Cabernet Sauvignon is rich in flavor and has high tannin content. (page 172). It says Zinfandel is fruit forward and jammy. (page 189)

My review: This wine had a woody/cocoa scent. It had a dark berry taste and was sweet like chocolate. It was much sweeter than I thought it was going to be. It was medium-bodied although when you smell it, you would think it's full-bodied. It is different from most red blends I've had before which are usually very fruity. Although it wasn't a wine and cheese pairing, we tried it with white cheddar, and it was very good. It brought out the sweetness of the wine.

Cheese Pairing # 2

Rose Prosecco: The Rose itself had a very floral scent. It tasted very floral and acidic. We paired this with the Feta.

Parmesan: The cheese brought the acidity down of the rose prosecco. The feta was better, but it still wasn't a bad pairing.

Mozzarella: Mozzarella is a very bland cheese, and it didn't change the taste of the wine at all. It tasted like you just drank the wine by itself.

Feta: It was a very good pairing. It brought down the acidity of the wine and made the wine taste more berry than floral. It really compliments the saltiness of the feta.

Sauvignon Blanc: It was very tart. The Sauvignon Blanc tastes like a fruity pear and smells floral. Paired with Mozzarella.

Parmesan: The parmesan makes the wine bland again and takes down the flavor of the wine. It's not a very good pairing.

Mozzarella: This was surprisingly a very good pairing. It really brought out the flavor of the wine, it made the wine taste sharper and more tart.

Feta: The feta made the wine taste sweeter. The pairing didn't blow me away, but it was still good.

Merlot: The Merlot smelled woody and dark cherry. The Merlot was full-bodied and a dark cocoa hint. It was very bitter. We paired this with the Parmesan

Parmesan: This cheese tames the flavor of the wine, and the parmesan overpowers the flavor of the wine. It makes the wine feel heavy.

Mozzarella: This was an awful pairing. The wine ruined the taste of the mozzarella which is surprising because the mozzarella didn't have much taste to begin with. The mozzarella made the wine taste very bitter and acidic. Somehow, this pairing made them both worse. 

Feta: This was a pretty good pairing. The cheese brought down the acidity of the wine with its saltiness. This pairing enhanced the flavor of both the wine and the cheese.