David and “The Black Dogs” of Château Morrisette
By Jane Singleton

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains above the Rock Castle Gorge Wilderness Area, Château Morrisette produces some of Virginia’s premier and most popular wines. Château Morrisette is the result of a love affair between the Morrisette family and the rural Virginia countryside. It was back in 1978 when William, Nancy and David Morrisette planted their first vines.

In their early days of the winery, David and his parents were making wine in four and five gallon jugs. Château Morrisette had its humble beginnings in the basement of the Morrisette home on Sugarloaf Mountain in Floyd County. David explains that his father expanded into a 2000 square foot dirt floor cave he built on the home place and that’s where the wine making began. It was originally named Woolwine Winery after a town in the valley close to their home. According to Nancy Morrisette the winery “was a hobby that got out of hand.”

When the winery was launched there were just six wineries in the Commonwealth. David Morrisette was sent off to study enology (viniculture or winemaking) at Mississippi State University, thus leaving Bill and Nancy to make the wine for the first few years. David explains, “Dad would call me from time to time while I was in school especially during harvest, to pick up new information and pointers for our winemaking business.”

In 1983, Woolwine Winery was converted to a wine storage area and a new site was acquired six miles south on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This new location made it easier for visitors to find the winery and along with the move came the name change to Château Morrisette. In wine terminology, château generally refers to an estate that produces wine.

The early years were anything but easy! The first decade was financially trying and keeping Château Morrisette going was an uphill battle. Extreme temperatures damaged the vineyards in both 1985 and 1987 and the business was even listed for sale in wine trade publications a couple times in the 80’s, fortunately there were no takers. “We came through very difficult times to get to where we are today. We are so proud…so thankful,” David explains. “At Château Morrisette, we aren’t stuffy people. We don’t like pretense, we don’t like coats and ties and things like that. We’ve got a great team that is all built on faith, everybody working together as a family. That’s what makes it work.”

Some are two-legged family members and others equally important to Château Morrisette’s history and charisma, are four-legged ones. Château Morrisette’s most intriguing labels include The Black Dog, inspired by the original black Lab named Hans. This wine, a semi-dry blend of Cabernet, Chambourcin, and Merlot, hit the market at about the same time it became popular knowledge that daily red wine consumption seemed to have positive preventive effects on heart disease. According to David, “The Black Dog was now off and running!”

“You know there is a certain snob appeal to wine and our mission was and is to take out that snob appeal. We want people to know that wines are approachable, that they’re fun and that you don’t need to be afraid of them. In restaurants, a lot of people will order whatever wine is the buzz word at that time because they are afraid to tell the server that they don’t know much about wine. So they end up ordering wine they don’t even care for. Before there were a lot of Virginia wineries, the people who were coming to Château Morrisette were intimated by wine. When you start looking at the different flavors, styles, aromas and tastes, the varieties-it’s all so overwhelming. It’s even overwhelming to me,” said David. “So that was one of the main purposes of bringing the dogs into it.”

At the time, Bob Burgin, Vice President and Director of Winemaking and David both had black Labs (they still do and are on their third generation). So they decided to use images and names of their Labs on Château’s wine bottle labels. David and Marketing Director Nora Kuper conceptually design Château’s wine labels with black dog images. They then get someone else involved to create the wonderful drawings. The labels are works of art in their own right. “It’s the most important thing with wines, you know,” explains David. “There are thousands and thousands of wines on the market and if you don’t stand out on the shelf, you get lost, no one is going to find you.”

Other unique labels and names are Our Dog Blue, a semi-sweet Riesling blend; Blushing Dog, a semi-sweet blush wine blended from Vidal Blanc, Riesling, and Chambourcin; Angel Chardonnay, a semi-dry Chardonnay; and the writer’s personal favorite, Frosty Dog.

Frosty Dog is a late harvest wine, or ice wine, made by pressing frozen grapes. David explained, that “with only a very, very small amount of the fruit can we do this, because we have to have optimum conditions. When we squeeze the frozen grapes and press them, we’re only getting maybe 90 gallons per ton instead of the usual 160 gallons per ton. It’s thicker than pancake syrup when pressed – it takes days to press it out when normally it would take only a few hours. It’s a dessert wine made from Vidal Blanc and Traminette grapes and has a higher sugar content than other wines we make.”



The most famous of “The Black Dogs” of Château Morrisette is Nicholas, who spent 13 years as the winery’s top mascot and greeter, model for wine labels and office mate before retiring. Nicholas may be getting gray around the muzzle, but he can still romp and carouse with the best! According to David, “Nicholas and I are both getting gray around the muzzle. We may look old, but really we’re not. Nobody reminds us of how old we are that’s how Nicholas at 14 years old now was able to run off last night and carouse through the woods in the middle of the night with the bears and then end up at the winery the next morning for a nap.”

Since retirement, Nicholas lives at the home of Château Morrisette’s gardener Regina Wolfe, but still visits the winery from time-to-time. “Regina has dogs and they all just love each other so he stays up there a lot. Nick always was a ladies’ man,” David adds.

During David’s search for a new mascot a.k.a. Top Dog to take over for Nicholas, this ad appeared on the Château Morrisette web site:











Before long, Nicholas’ old position was filled. “My new Lab is named Lucky. I got him from the pound where he was scheduled to be put down. Actually, one of my customers found Lucky for me through a rescue society in North Carolina. So Lucky is Top Dog now and Regina has Nicholas,” explains David.













Château Morrisette celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. What began as “a hobby that got out of hand” has grown into one of the largest and most recognized wine producers in the eastern United States. Now with more than ninety wineries and many more on the way, Virginia wines have certainly arrived! Château Morrisette can rightfully claim to have contributed to that success and in his own way so did the famous black dog.

Château Morrisette is located in a spectacular natural setting on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. It is both a relaxing and exciting experience for anyone who enjoys fine wine, good food and natural surroundings. Located at milepost 171.5 Blue Ridge Parkway, Meadows of Dan, the restaurant and winery are open year round and special events are held throughout the year.

To find out more about Château Morrisette, visit them at www.thedogs.com and remember David’s advice, “whether in our restaurant or another restaurant, try a new wine by-the-glass. With wines in general, just have fun with them and experiment. There are a lot of great tasting wines out there.”

All Labs is proud to carry the attractive Château Morrisette hats and t-shirts in our Apparel Dept. in our store. How can you resist that famous black dog?