This family-owned winery has grown into one of the commonwealth's leading wineries.

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By Corey Mann and Taylor Kelly | New River Voice correspondents

The constant hum of a grape press isn’t just a soothing noise in the background for customers to enjoy; it’s a constant reminder of the hard work David Morrisette has put in to create the biggest winery in the New River Valley.

The family-owned winery started in the mid ’70s in a blasted underground cave. By 1981 it had evolved into a full-scale winery, restaurant and gift shop known as Chateau Morrisette. The Floyd County tourist destination, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, is now one of the most profitable wineries in all of Virginia.

Morrisette met Bob Burgin, now vice president of the winery, when they were two of three enology majors at Mississippi State. They graduated just before the program closed down. “We went our separate ways, and when I realized I shouldn’t be the wine maker because I was terrible at it, he came in and took over,” Morrisette said. “I should have been doing other things, like marketing.”

Chateau Morrisette produces and ships 15 different wines that are sold throughout the commonwealth and along the East Coast, including North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and West Virginia. With 70,000 cases and more than 100,000 customers each year, the winery is flourishing. October is by far the best month for sales, as the fall season brings in much more business than the winter.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing. “We put it up for sale three times during the ’80s, and even now it’s a tough market. It’s hard for all the wineries right now.” The family has learned from experience. “In 1987 the temperature was 35 degrees below, and we had all our grapes grown here in Floyd. Needless to say we lost 100 percent of our grapes. That’s when we decided we needed to grow them in different areas around the state.”

Through trial and error, Morrisette has found better locations. “Different grapes grow better in different microclimates. The grapes are brought in 24 hours a day by refrigerated tractor-trailers.” They have grapes growing in Northern Virginia, Charlottesville, the Shenandoah Valley, Patrick County and anywhere from 10 minutes away to five hours away. No matter where the grapes are grown, every last one is shipped through the mountains to the beautiful winery in Floyd to be pressed and used.

With their Sweet Mountain Laurel and Red Mountain Laurel dessert-style wines flying off the shelves, most profits come from grocery chains. “Walmart, Sam’s, Kroger, whatever grocery chain. But Kroger was the main chain that helped us get our foothold,” he said. “It’s nice because now Walmart is pushing to have regional products in their stores, from wine to apples, pears, local beef — anything local you can put in there.”

Gov. Bob McDonnell has made a big push to promote Virginia wineries, in contrast with some past governors who never served Virginia wines at the Governor’s Mansion. In this economy, the governor isn’t the only one pulling for the wine industry. According to the Virginia Wine Marketing Office, sales of Virginia wine reached an all-time high in 2011, with more than 462,000 cases sold. The office reported that it was an 11 percent increase over 2010, making the commonwealth the nation’s fifth largest wine producer.

Suzette Miller, one of 85 current employees in Floyd, had nothing but great things to say about the winery. Her job consists of greeting customers, taking them through the wine-tasting process, giving tours of the production facilities, and sharing interesting facts. She was the ultimate guide. Miller was an intern who just couldn’t leave. “I can’t express how much I enjoy working here and being apart of this winery, giving to the Service Dogs has really won me over.”

Miller is referring to Chateau Morrisette’s community involvement. It is known for its support of “Dogs 4 A Cause,” one of many service dog organizations Chateau Morrisette supports. Profits from Liberty and Independence wines benefit St. Francis Service Dogs. “The money pays for the dog as well as the training to serve as a service dog,” Miller explained. They also give to “For the Love of Dogs,” which benefits the research for EPI, Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, a disease in which a dog has the inability to digest food due to a lack of pancreatic digestive enzymes.

The black labrador, or “Black Dog,” featured on a number of the wines at Chateau Morrisette, has been a symbol of the winery for more than 25 years. Winery? Black lab? Where’s the connection? While Morrisette was growing up, he was the proud owner of a black lab named Hans. When Morrisette took over the winery, Hans could always be found snooping around, as he had a fine taste for a special vintage.

Trilogy was Hans’ favorite wine, an off-dry wine with a blend of cabernet, chambourcin and merlot. Though Hans could always be found slurping up a freshly poured bowl of what is now known as “The Black Dog,” he lived a long and loving life until he passed at the age of 15. Morrisette was so affected by Hans’ death that he decided to start the Black Dog marketing strategy, showing his respect for the dog he loved. Little did he know, the strategy turned into what is now one of only two wineries in Virginia that sells more than 50,000 cases of wine a year.

Chateau Morrisette has found its place in wine making and is doing extremely well on the East Coast. Though Morrisette is grateful for all that the winery has accomplished, he’s considering expansion. As of right now, they are working on exporting to China. Morrisette plans to visit Hong Kong to start selling his wine there as well.

It’s important to David, his seven children and four dogs to keep the winery in the family. Even though his children are young, Morrisette can tell some are destined to join the family business. “I know a couple of them are really interested in the winery. They’ll definitely want to get involved when they’re older.”

By Elliot Blumberg | newrivervoice.com correspondent

The Mountain Lake Conservancy’s visitor center is a naturalist’s dream. Glass cases filled with stuffed Appalachian game line the walls. There are skeletons of rodents and other small animals; rusted coins; Civil War-era bullets; and tools and treasures dug out of the Virginia soil. Bird and wasp nests hang on branches suspended from the ceiling. A rocking chair sits on a pelt below an eight-point buck rack. The lodge smells of wood and nature.

The visitor’s center is housed in a long green lodge next to Mountain Lake Hotel. Both overlook what remains of the lake – water levels are down considerably since the ’80s. In the lake’s previous waterline, paddleboats sit static in the dirt, hundreds of yards away from any water.

As you walk down the lodge’s Southern style porch, you’ll find a gift shop. There you can buy trinkets and clothes, most of which are themed after the film “Dirty Dancing.” And if you’re not in the mood for a three-foot wind chime, you can survey some paintings at the art gallery one door down.

Some Brief History

Mountain Lake is one of only two natural lakes in Virginia. The first hotel on Mountain Lake was built prior to the Civil War. William Moody Jr. founded and built the current hotel – made with stone from the surrounding mountains – in the 1930s.

For the better part of a century, the Moody family owned the hotel and surrounding land, until Moody’s daughter passed away in 1986. Upon her death, she created the Mary Moody Northen Endowment, and the conservancy operates under the mission statement to further her “desire to forge bonds between people and nature in Mountain Lake’s unique environment.” This includes barring sale and limiting development of the land. You won’t see condominiums or a strip mall going up on Mountain Lake anytime soon.

A Big Job

The conservancy is a one-employee-enterprise; Jessica Coker holds the position of director and oversees all operations. She came to Mountain Lake three years ago but was recently promoted to her new position. Her job is simple: lots and lots of projects. “There’s ongoing projects all the time and there are lots of components to [our] mission,” said Coker.

The endowment is run by a board of directors out of Galveston, Texas, where the Moody family is from. But the board’s ex-officio members extend to current and former employees in addition to state Sen. John Edwards, Del. Jim Shuler and former Congressman Rich Boucher.

The conservancy is funded by hotel profits and supplemented by the endowment (the conservancy itself is non-profit). “It’s slightly complex,” admits Coker. The conservancy also receives donations in the form of a membership program created in the same year of Coker’s arrival.

The hotel on Mountain Lake is recognized as the filming site of “Dirty Dancing,” the 1987 Patrick Swayze flick that has accrued a cult following and a 6.3/10 user rating on the Internet Movie Database. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, check it out at www.imdb.com.

Coker sums up the conservancy’s feel in a sentence: “It’s important to me for the conservancy to be recognized as a place in Giles County that’s really trying to join in on the motivation for an outdoor active healthy lifestyle.”

But How?

First and foremost, the conservancy works to educate and raise awareness of Appalachian conservation. “Providing an avenue for research and awareness is very important to us,” Coker says. These avenues include hosting the Road Scholar program, acting as a venue for schools’ and community groups’ field trips, and working with local and national partners to target larger and larger audiences.

In order to keep the area ripe for tourism and outdoorsmen, Mountain Lake depends on volunteers and community service groups. Trailblazing and updating maps and signs number among the duties that volunteers take on.

Aside from community outreach, forest and land management is one of the conservancy’s major priorities. Management comes in the form of many projects, including creating a land-steward program alongside the US Forest Service and lowering out-of-hand deer populations by organizing small hunting groups. In the future, Coker wishes to bring out Virginia Tech students to practice sustainable forestry methods.

Coker also works with the hotel and other partners to decrease energy usage, utilize green products and lower carbon emissions.

The Challenge of Conservation

Of the almost 25 million acres in Virginia, roughly 14 percent are protected. Most protected land belongs to the government, with 38 state parks representing 62 percent of the 3.7 million protected acres. While there are more than 50 private land conservation organizations, trusts and conservancies – like the Mountain Lake conservancy – they only represent 5.6 percent of the total. Land isn’t cheap, and conservation doesn’t pay much.

The Western Virginia Land Trust is another private non-profit land conservation agency operating in the New River Valley and surrounding areas. Their 15,000 protected acres and 33 miles of protected streams are spread over 10 counties.

The trust’s focus areas include family farms; running bodies of water – rivers, streams and watersheds; land visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway (viewsheds); ridgetops and mountainsides; and greenways and trails.

Assistant Director David Perry shares some of the issues the land trust faces, particularly with regard to the economy. They still “have the lights on and the doors open,” said Perry, but their energy is often spent on growing revenue. “The more energy we spend having to find revenue and cut costs, the less time we have to go out on farms and talk to farmers and promote conservation.”

Despite their endeavors to generate revenue, however, Perry still recognizes the bright side. “We are blessed to have generous donors,” he says.

Mountain Lake also faces funding issues. The biggest hurdle, according to Coker, is funding for staff.

H.M. “Buzz” Scanland, general manager of Mountain Lake, thinks it’s our cultural attitude. “People will continue to trash the environment until it affects their pocketbooks,” he says. “It is not a quick fix.”

By Shaina Stockton |  New River Voice correspondent

When he was in the eighth grade, Kurt Rheinheimer turned in his first writing assignment for the school year. The paper was on the cookie-cutter topic, “What I did on my summer vacation.” Rheinheimer spun a humorous, exaggerated account of how he and his friend got “lost” on a mountainside where their families were camping. His paper, titled “The Day My Life Was Saved by a Lifesaver,” did not meet his teacher’s standards, but the feedback she gave him would set the tone for his future.

“She gave me an ‘F’ because I didn’t follow directions, and then she wrote that it was wonderfully written and fun,” Rheinheimer said. “She hooked me in right there.”
Today, Rheinheimer works as an editor-in-chief at Leisure Publishing and writes for several publications, including The Roanoker, Blue Ridge Country and the Virginia Travel Guide. His love for hiking has inspired a blog that he updates regularly on Blue Ridge Country’s website. “Getting to write about the mountains and get great freelance material from writers is terrific,” Rheinheimer said.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Md., Rheinheimer is a Creighton University graduate with a master’s degree in communication arts.  He started his job at Leisure Publishing in 1984 as editor-in-chief after competing as an associate editor against two other candidates. “At some point I got up my nerve and told publisher and owner Richard Wells that I was the one,” Rheinheimer said. “Luckily, he agreed.”

His blog, titled “Kurt’s Hikes,” began after he and his wife, Gail, took their first hiking trip in February 2004. “My wife, who has since truly become the greatest day hiker of them all, said on Valentine’s morning, ‘Hey, let’s do something different,’” Rheinheimer said.

Gail Rheinheimer recalled taking hikes with her husband and their children while they were growing up. “I love being outside and I love being with Kurt,” Gail said. “We hiked through lots of snow and ice that day on Apple Orchard Falls and Cornelius Creek. We followed bear prints for a while and had a gourmet picnic lunch at the halfway point. It was good exercise, so there just didn’t seem any reason not to do it the next weekend or the next.”

Together, they completed all 550 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia in 2008, and have walked more than 3,500 miles total. Most of their hikes have taken place in Virginia, but they have also visited trails in West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Oregon and New Zealand. “We’re so lucky in this part of Virginia, with the Appalachian Trail going right through our back yard,” Rheinheimer said.

His resume’ also lists several contributions to journals such as Carolina Quarterly and Greensboro Review and anthologies including “New Stories from the South” and “Scoring from Second: Writers on Baseball.”

Rheinheimer also has a playful side. He has written several works of fiction and loves to incorporate humor into his writing. “In the early 1980s, I contributed a freelance column to The Roanoker called ‘The Star City Seer.’ It was made-up questions and wacky answers,” Rheinheimer said.

In 2005, he published “Little Criminals,” a collection of short stories that he’d written over the years. The book was published by Eastern Washington University and won the Spokane Prize for fiction.

One of his blog entries includes a video of Hurricane Irene’s effect on Flat Top Mountain. The camera centers on rain-drenched Rheinheimer mimicking the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore. He uses quick, dramatic gestures, flailing his arms and stumbling around the rocks as he continues a fast-paced weather report, most of which is drowned out by the wind blowing into the camera. “Here on the peak, conditions are deteriorating, as you can see,” Rheinheimer gestures toward a nearby tree that gently sways in the wind. “Just look at some of those leaves, just, whip, whipping!” His wife can be heard giggling off camera.

In his spare time, Rheinheimer enjoys a busy life. He and Gail have a big family, with five sons and six grandchildren. In addition to hiking, he enjoys other outdoor activities such as running and biking. He also enjoys escaping into the short stories that have inspired him throughout his career. Some of his favorite authors are John Updike, Lorrie Moore, Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie.

While it may seem Rheinheimer has scratched a lot off his to-do list, his love for writing keeps him hungry for more. “I have two story collections getting considered and rejected, and a third one that is close to being submitted,” Rheinheimer said. “And for work, I want to make the publications I work on the best they can be every time.”

You can read Rheinheimer’s blog by visiting the website at http://www.blueridgecountry.com.

By Taylor Faw | New River Voice correspondent

This year's Harvest Festival was a celebration of music and farm life. (Photo by Taylor Faw)

The wool went flying as Derrick Spangler snipped away at an unsuspecting, four-legged fluff ball. The sheep-shearing demonstration was just one of the many agriculture-oriented events at the 6th annual Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011.

Farm-minded people from around the New River Valley flocked to the “4-H & Extension Office” lot of Fox Street to get their fix of antique tractors, line-dancing, and of course, Floyd heritage. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the property was transformed from an ordinary parking lot to a local fairground featuring activities for the whole family.
This animal farm was no dystopia; the Livestock Show was extensive and daylong, because what’s a fair without a truckload of goats? Some checked out the early morning Dairy Heifer exhibit while the lactose-intolerant hit the Lamb Show.

Heritage demonstrations took place throughout the day, offering insight to unique crafts of the region’s past, like Spikenard Farm bee-keeping, Blacksmith Forge and Home Food Preservation. The Master Gardener Volunteers shared their secrets through plant and gardening clinics throughout the day. Competition for the blue ribbon was high; whether it was the Farm Bureau Ag Olympics, pie-baking, or photography contests.

The Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair was fortified with an army of local vendors selling anything from fresh squeezed lemonade to puppets to insurance.

Bootleg Barbeque appeased the carnivores with its Hickory Smoked Southern Style Chicken, pulled pork and ribs. Barbara Von Claparede, practitioner of the dark arts of pastry-craft, cooked up a plethora of delicious homemade cakes, sweet breads, cookies, and jams. Harvesters from all over brought fruits, vegetables, and baked goods to sell.
The makeshift amphitheater, consisting of a vast ocean of haystacks and some P.A. equipment, gave barnyard refugees a place to lay low and enjoy some live music. Performances ranged from the acoustic Americana music of Andrea Marshall to the hybrid sound of Friends of Bernie, incorporating bluegrass flatpicking with Django-style gypsy jazz.

The Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair, coordinated by Dawn Barnes, was created in order to highlight Floyd County’s agricultural climate, both past and present. It was also intended to give people an opportunity to recognize the county’s history.

“Our goal is to keep the youth interested in agriculture throughout the community and to promote leadership skills,” said Barnes.

The festival was free to the public this year, however, donations were accepted to help front the costs for next year’s celebration. The event was sponsored by over 20 entities from the nearby community. Sponsors were broken down by their level of contribution; bronze, ($26 – $50) silver, ($51 -$125) and gold. ($126 and above) Some of the highest bidders included Floyd County Farm Bureau, James W. Shortt and Associates, P.C. and Quilters of Floyd.
The Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair is expected to continue the tradition next September.

Thousands of bikers, bicyclers, that is, are coming to the New River Valley. From June 24 to June 29, about 2,000 bike lovers from all over are going to be camped out and enjoying the area’s natural beauty. They are part of a bike tour, Bike Virginia, that travels to different locations throughout the state, camps and bikes their routes.

Deborah Cooney, Radford’s Director of Tourism, is excited about the pick. She said this is not Bike Virginia’s first trip to the New River Valley. They came once before in 2002. “The economic impact is great … People see the beauty, the scenery, and hopefully come back,” said Cooney.

The courses are of varying difficulty, with 1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest. Along with being rated numerically, the different routes are color coded. The “Pink” course is the regular course that is used daily. The “Red” trails are shorter, while the “Orange” trails are longer. There is a “Green” alternative route as well.

The natural beauty and potential of the area is not a secret to those who live here. “I think both the biking enthusiast and the casual biker will be impressed with the variety of terrain and trails we have in our area,” Mayor Dr. Bruce Brown said. “From the Radford Bikeway/Walkway to the Huckleberry Trail to the New River trail- we are blessed to have the resources in our area.”

The guests are either staying in local hotels, which are filled to capacity, according to Cooney, or in Tent Cities. These are designated areas (Pulaski County High School and Radford High School) where bikers can bring tents and camp.

Radford is hosting several events to complement the event. There will be live music on main street, creek walk, bird tours, paddle board lessons, and much more. Nesslerod on the River, Radford’s Bed and Breakfast is hosting a Garden Party for the Bike Virginia participants. The party will include catered food, fly fishing demonstrations and a free beer and wine tasting.

The average day for a Bike Virginia biker starts at about 6 a.m., when breakfast is served. The route opens at 7 a.m, while lunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Throughout the day, a sports massage is available, as well as a bike repair service. The route closes at 5 p.m., proceeded by dinner from 5-8 p.m. The biker’s day ends with quiet hours, starting at 10 p.m.

Bike Virginia was started in 1988 by Dr. Kim Perry, an avid biker. While it started out with just a handful of bikers, it grew to 2,000. They then capped the participation number in order to keep things going smoothly. In the past three years, they have covered about 7,000 miles in Virginia, with stops in Chesapeake and the Shenandoah Valley.

The city of Radford is gearing up for the annual Vulture Fest, being held Saturday Feb. 19, 2011.

Among activities are an early morning bird walk (starting at the Rec Center),  educational talks at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.  (at the library) and a photo contest (deadline Feb. 18).

All ages are encouraged to enter the photo contest….

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