Chateau Morrisette Winery

Hi everyone!  We're having a cool snap here, how about you?  It's been bright and sunny, so all in all, a really nice fall day.

Do you like to take day trips?  We almost always go to the mountains for our day trips, but we haven't gotten to do that in quite a while.  This is our favorite time of the year to go to the mountains and drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Technically, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park, so I wonder if it will be blocked off with barricades?  Hmmm -- sure hope not.

All the pictures in this post are from fall of 2011.  We have several local wineries near us in North Carolina that we like to visit, but Chateau Morrisette is actually in Virginia.  It's further for us to drive, but we enjoy spending an afternoon there in the fall if we have a free day.  It's right off the Blue Ridge Parkway in a little community called Meadows of Dan.

It's further for us to drive, but we enjoy spending an afternoon there if we have a free day.  Chateau Morrisette is right off the Blue Ridge Parkway in a little community called Meadows of Dan.  We first visited this winery when our son was just a toddler, and it was a fairly small operation.  In the ensuing years they built a big, new building where they make the wine, and the original building now serves as their restaurant.

This is the entrance to the restaurant.  What you see here is a new facade that was built in front of the original building.  It definitely has an old-world look, doesn't it?

My husband and I ate lunch here many years ago, and the food was very good.  If you want to eat there, you're encouraged to make reservations because they typically fill up very quickly.

This is the side entrance to the restaurant; that's the original winery with the weathered shingles and the stone fireplace.  It really has so much charm.

This vine-covered passage leads to the restaurant.

You can see their fall display in the background.

And a closeup of the fall arrangement...

Some scenes of the flowers and informal gardens around the restaurant...

This is the new winery building -- very European in style.

The black Labrador retriever going in the door above belongs to the owners of the winery.  Their wines have a black lab on almost every label, and they host "Black Dog Music Festivals" every year on the grounds of the winery.

I love the reflection of the sky and trees in this window.

These mums were planted outside the winery.  The walkway has grape leaf designs stamped into the concrete -- how neat is that?  :)

The lobby of the winery...this chandelier definitely looks like it came out of an old French chateau, don't you think?

The chandelier and gorgeous woodwork...

You can see the pretty arched windows in the picture above.  The lobby leads into a gift shop and wine tasting area; below is the only picture we took of the gift shop area.  You can see boxes of wine for sale; I love the candelabra at the bottom of the picture.

Behind the winery is a picnic area, a gazebo, and a stage where the music festivals are held.  On that day, there were pretty blue and yellow gonfalons like the one above flying in the autumn breeze.

Looking from the gazebo down towards the picnic tables and the performance stage.
 

  
...and a view out across the trees and meadows.  I just love these pastoral scenes when the grass is green and the leaves are wearing their beautiful fall colors.

After we left the winery, we got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we passed this pretty little rural vignette.

I believe these old Farmall tractors are very collectible, and this one looks to be in good condition.

I love the symmetry of the three pumpkins in front of each wheel.  When I look back at these pictures, I can't believe how blue the sky was that day.

As we traveled further into Virginia, we spotted the overlook for Lovers Leap.

It's beautiful, but I wouldn't care to leap off it.  :)

I hope you enjoyed seeing the winery and the sights along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We've found that a trip to a local winery is an inexpensive way to get out and see the local sights this time of the year.  Other than the gas you use to drive there and back, it can be a really inexpensive day trip.  We didn't even do the tour of the winery, and we didn't do a wine tasting.  We just had fun walking around and taking pictures.  Of course, if you wanted to have lunch at the restaurant and do a wine tasting and buy wine and/or souvenirs, then you'd end up spending a bit more money.  It can be as expensive or as frugal as you like.

Here's a link to Chateau Morrisette if you'd like more information on the wines, restaurant, or driving directions.

Do you have wineries in your area and have you ever visited them?  I'd love to hear about them.  Thank you for taking time to visit House at Forest Manor.  I love your visits and comments!  I hope you have a wonderful week.  :)

I'm joining the following parties:
"Oh The PLACES I've Been," hosted by The Tablescaper
Seasonal Sundays, hosted by The Tablescaper
Mosaic Mondays, hosted by Mary at The Little Red House
 

Denise