AUGUST NEWSLETTER 2025
IN THIS NEWSLETTER...
VIP Wines of the Month
Report from the Tasting Room
Report from the Cellar
Report from the Vineyard
Report from Locksley Farmstead Cheese
Note from Jenni
It’s been one hot summer, and there’s nothing like a big glass of chilled wine from Chrysalis Vineyards to quench your thirst. But now, you can enjoy your full glass (and bottles!) for less... and here's how: we’ve increased your VIP Club discount from 15% to 30% off all Chrysalis-produced wines—no codes, no hassle, just extra savings every time you visit. Not part of the club? JOIN TODAY and start enjoying the benefits! And if you’re looking for more fun reasons to stop by, August brings exciting events like Flutters & Flights and our Butterfly Wine Glass Paint & Sip.
Club Benefit Overview:
- Free monthly VIP Pick-Up Events for 2, with wine, food pairings & exclusive tastings
- 30% off Chrysalis-produced wines 15% off food, gifts & event space rentals (Excludes cheeses from Locksley Farmstead Cheese Company)
- Up to 4 complimentary tastings or 2 self-guided flights per visit
- First access to new releases
- Exclusive VIP-only wines from our best lots
AUGUST EVENTS:
Join us for music at Chrysalis Vineyards Saturdays from 2 - 5PM!
AUGUST 2nd - Luke Andrews
AUGUST 9th - Joe Martin
AUGUST 16th - Andrew Renner
AUGUST 23rd - Anthony Semioa
AUGUST 30th - Melanie Pearl
August 1st - 3rd - White Wine Weekend
Celebrate the bright, refreshing flavors of summer with us during White Wine Weekend! Experience our White Wine Weekend with a guided tasting of this year’s featured white wines. When you participate in the tasting, you’ll receive a one-time coupon for 10% off same-day bottle purchases of the wines featured on the White Wine Weekend tasting.
Whether you’re a fan of Albariño, Viognier, or something delightfully unexpected, this is the perfect chance to explore our whites and stock up for the season.
August 24th @ 2 - 3PM - Flutters & Flights
In case you missed out in June, we have another opportunity just for you! Join us at Chrysalis Vineyards for Flutters & Flights on August 24th from 2-3 PM for an enchanting butterfly release and wine experience you won't want to miss!
During this event, the Glasshouse Butterfly Farm & Garden will discuss the importance of butterflies in our environment and ecosystem, their life cycle, and specifically the Monarch butterfly. Guests will have the opportunity to view a live display of the butterfly life cycle and then participate in a “feed and release” of a Painted Lady Butterfly. This event is open to all ages, and we offer two ticket options:
Flutters & Flights:
For individuals 21 years old and older, this ticket includes a flight of wine (must be one of the three flights that we offer), admittance to the event, a butterfly for release, and the opportunity to watch a mass release of 24 butterflies.
To purchase your ticket today CLICK HERE.
Just Wings:
This ticket is for children, adults under 21, or adults over 21 who prefer not to drink. It includes admittance to the event, a butterfly for release, and participation in all activities except the wine tasting.
To purchase your ticket today CLICK HERE.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to connect with nature and enjoy a delightful wine experience!
August 30th @ 2 - 4PM - Butterfly Wine Glass Paint and Sip
Unleash your creativity at Chrysalis Winery with our Butterfly Wine Glass Painting event! Perfect for all skill levels, this workshop provides all the supplies you need to design and personalize your own butterfly-themed wine glass. Enjoy a flight tasting of our finest wines as you paint and create your masterpiece. Gather your friends and join us for an artistic and flavorful experience!
To purchase your ticket today CLICK HERE.
**Guests will enjoy a flight of their choice from our current flight offerings**
*Participants must be 21 or older. This event will be held in a 21+ only area.*
August 28th @ 5PM - Book Club
Join us for our next Book Club gathering on Thursday, August 28th, from 5–6 PM! Sip on one of your favorite wines from Chrysalis Vineyards and enjoy a lively discussion with fellow book lovers. This book club is led by our wonderful friends at the Middleburg Library, making each gathering a fun and thoughtful evening of stories, sips, and great company. Whether you're a devoted reader or just here for the wine and conversation, everyone is welcome!
We will be discussing: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
Interested in attending? Reach out to Jill Smedley at
Jill.Smedley@TheAgDistrict.com.
NOTE TO OUR VIP CLUB MEMBERS
Join us for a Chrysalis Luau! Mark your calendar for Friday, August 8th at 6 PM and get ready for a tropical evening at the winery! Enjoy a few island-inspired bites from the Little River Bakehouse, refreshing wine spritzers, and a whole lot of fun with Jake and Jill. Rumor has it they’ll be competing in a relay race... in costume. (We’ll let your imagination run wild.) It’s a VIP pick-up party you won’t want to miss!
Members must RSVP to TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com no later than Sunday, August 3rd to reserve your spot. RSVPs received after August 3rd will be placed on a waiting list, and while we will do our best to accommodate everyone, entry to the event cannot be guaranteed. Please include your name and the number of people attending (up to 4 per membership, this month only). Lastly, when planning your visit, please remember that we close at 8:00 PM.
Not a VIP Club member yet?
Learn more about the benefits below and join the club today!
For August, our VIP members will receive the 2021 Mariposa and 2020 Papillon.
The white wine selection for our VIP Club members this month is Chrysalis Vineyards 2021 Mariposa. The 2021 vintage of this wine is a blend of Tannat, Petit Verdot, Tinta Cao, Nebbiolo, and Fer Servadou. The Mariposa has aromatics of strawberries, watermelon, and pomegranate with notes of ripe strawberries and juicy cherries on the palate.
The red selection for this month’s VIP shipment is the 2020 Papillon. This full-bodied blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot offers intense aromatics of licorice and dark fruit, evolving into complex notes of baking spices and dried cherries. On the palate, enjoy bold flavors of dark fruits, cardamom, and a smoky, lingering finish.
As a reminder to our members, all VIP wine is available for pickup at the Ag District Center tasting room anytime during regular business hours. If you haven't been able to visit for a while and need to pick up more than 3 months of wine selections please call at least a day in advance of your visit so we can have them ready for you.
NOTE: Please do not reply to this emailed Newsletter. Your email will not be handled in a timely manner or may even be lost.
REPORT FROM THE TASTING ROOM
The Heat Is On!! Why not join us at Chrysalis for a nice, cool, chilled glass of white wine and celebrate National Albariño Day on Friday, August 1st?
Our featured wines for August are two crowd favorites:
2023 Albariño Reserve – Aromas of orange zest, honeydew, and grapefruit, with notes of nectarine, citrus fruit, and ripe peaches on the palate.
2023 Albariño Verde – Aromas of banana, pineapple, and citrus, with notes of lemon rind, lime zest, and grapefruit on the palate.
Join us at Chrysalis to celebrate our White Wine Weekend from August 1st – 3rd, we’ll be offering a curated White Wine Tasting in the Tasting Room. Everyone who purchases the White Wine Tasting will receive a one-time, same-day coupon for 10% off bottles of any of the white wines featured in the tasting. Our traditional mixed tasting will still be available as well.
Another opportunity available in the Tasting Room right now!
The 2021 Mariposa is on a special promotion:
- 3 bottles – 20% off
- 6 bottles – 25% off.
*And, of course, Members receive 30% off all bottles!
Looking to beat the heat even more? Try one of our four new Wine Spritzers, available Saturdays and Sundays:
* Manseng Mule
* Melon Spritz
* Mariposa Spritz
* Sangria Spritz
Come and chill with us! See you soon in the Tasting Room!
- Lori Tate, Tasting Room Manager
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD
Despite the rain, the vineyard is coming along nicely as we approach veraison in just a couple of weeks. That’s the fancy term for when grapes start changing color—from green to yellow or green to red. It’s the signal that harvest is just around the corner.
This time of year, the vineyard crew kicks it into high gear. They're out there de-leafing the vines, which helps get more sunlight onto the fruit. That not only helps ripen the grapes and improve spray coverage (if needed), but also helps us stay ahead of any disease pressure. Bonus: it also makes my job easier when I’m out sampling!
Most of my mornings this season have been spent walking a few blocks of the vineyard every day—even in the rain—tracking progress. Freddy and the crew have done an incredible job this year, working through sweltering heat and soggy afternoons. Seriously—these guys are dedicated.
I know I say it every year, but it’s shaping up to be another great vintage. I can’t wait to share more as we get closer to harvest.
- Jake Blodinger, Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE CELLAR
We are gearing up for 2025 harvest this year. I’m currently in the process of finishing up the last of the bottling this year and tidying up the cellar.
Unlike previous vintages, we are taking a more delicate approach with the winemaking practices by continuing to focus more on techniques and pick decisions rather then chemical manipulations such as enzymes, invasive fining agents, and chemical adjustments. As many of you know, we’ve switched entirely away from synthetic chemicals and only use additives that are from natural sources. We feel this is the only way to make minimal adjustments without entirely changing the wine’s potential.
We will be introducing a new technique this vintage which I will share with you all at a later date. That’s assuming it works out. As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I will be experimenting with native fermentation using some Norton. Unlike with our Viognier and creating a starter using carboys, we will use some light foot treading as a method to introduce the already present native yeasts on the grape skins.
Don’t worry though, we will keep a few carboys in the background in case things go south. The idea behind attempting this experiment is not only to create another blending component or a new wine but also to further explore the versatility of Virginia’s native grape. Norton has what I would consider a “wild or native” characteristic tasting and smelling more like the vineyard then other varieties we grow. I have an inkling that a native ferment could further expand upon these characteristics. Finger’s crossed!
- Jake Blodinger, Winemaker
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY
Buy local, eat, local, drink local. These phrases have been seen everywhere for almost 2 decades now. The 2008 Farm Act defined "local" as products that travel less than 400 miles from where they were produced. Buying local means buying fresher, healthier foods, but it also means supporting a stronger local food system and small businesses. It also decreases the environmental impact of transporting goods long distances.Theses are all pretty common sense ideas, so why do people empty their wallets in big box stores and on Amazon? Simple, it's usually cheaper and easier and consumers perceive that as value. Local products may be more expensive and you sometimes have to seek them out, but the value is in the quality of the product and the long term affects of supporting local businesses, especially local agriculture. We only have to look a few years back at the supply chain disaster that occurred during the COVID pandemic to remember why it's important to support your local businesses. For products as vital as food we can't afford to let them disappear from our local economy, but our small farms and small businesses are disappearing because they can't afford to compete. Local may be more expensive, but it's definitely fresher, higher quality, healthier and a better long term choice. So..... BUY LOCAL, EAT LOCAL, DRINK LOCAL and remember that you can do all of that at The Ag District!
- Teri Scott, General Manager
The Day Norton Found Me Charlottesville, Virginia – July 14, 1995
I always sit near the front—there’s clarity in proximity. I want to see the speakers, read the room, stay engaged. That morning, the ballroom at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville carried a quiet current of possibility. The ASEV Eastern Section meeting was focused on alternative grape varieties—an idea that felt fresh and ripe with potential for Eastern viticulture.
Two men were sitting on the dais: Dennis Horton, whose Viognier would soon catch me completely off guard with its vibrance and poise, and Alan Kinne, a thoughtful voice whose quiet delivery carried weight. Alan’s presentation was on irrigation—not glamorous, but transformative. He made it clear: a drip system, installed early, could pay for itself almost immediately by bringing a vineyard into production a full year sooner. And it would serve as insurance if water ever ran short. That logic became foundational. To this day, every one of my 70 acres is irrigated—not because it’s conventional, but because it’s right.
Dennis’s Viognier impressed me deeply, and when we broke for lunch, I followed him straight to his table and sat down beside him. That began a friendship that lasted until his passing in 2018. Alan joined shortly after, and we began discussing my ambitions. I asked him to consult on a project I was just beginning to envision, and he said yes.
By January of 1996, we were on a plane to Spain. We returned with cuttings of Albariño, Tempranillo, Graciano, Treixadura, Godello, and Loureira. Based on every recollection I’ve gathered, the Albariño was the first ever introduced into the United States. It was a quiet but deliberate step toward building identity.
But it was in the afternoon session, focused on reds, that I first tasted Norton. I was flabbergasted! What on Earth was this wine… Deep… gripping… fruity and wild. And it was right then and there, especially after learning it was native and the most disease-resistant bunch grape in the world, that I decided I would go to Virginia and be involved in the restoration of this wonderfully historical and important grape variety.
And so, as I look back exactly 30 years today, I see that it wasn’t just the day Norton found me. It was the day I found my purpose.
Take Care,
Jennifer McCloud
Chrysalis Vineyards at The Ag District
39025 Little River Turnpike (Tasting Room/Creamery/Kitchen)
23876 Champe Ford Road (Winery/Milking Center/Offices)
Middleburg, VA 20117
McCloud@ChrysalisWine.com
Office: 540-687-8222
www.ChrysalisWine.com
Facebook.com/ChrysalisVineyards