JANUARY NEWSLETTER 2023 |
IN THIS NEWSLETTER... VIP Wines of the Month Report from the Tasting Room Note from Jenni |
Happy New Year!!! Boy, the recent extremely cold weather has really made everyone long for Spring. Luckily we're past the Winter Solstice and the days are beginning to get longer, but I fear that we have a few more months before we really notice the extra daylight and the temperatures start to warm. We do have great indoor space here at the Ag District to keep you warm and if you want to brave the cold we also have heated tables outside, just ask our staff to light one for you! We wish you all a Happy New Year and hope to see you in the tasting room in 2023! NOTE TO OUR VIP CLUB MEMBERS Our VIP pickup event this month will be held on Friday, January 13th from 5:00pm until 8:00pm at the Ag District Center. Members must RSVP no later than January 9th by emailing TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com. Please include your name, number attending (up to 2 per membership), and your preferred tasting time (5:00, 5:45, 6:30, or 7:15). Please arrive in time to check in at least 10 minutes prior to your tasting time. When planning your visit please remember that we close at 8:00 pm. If you're not a member of our Chrysalis Vineyards VIP Club, remember to ask one of our associates how to join. Our members enjoy complimentary wine flights, discounts on wine and food, exclusive access to VIP events and more! The white wine selection for our VIP Club members this month is Chrysalis Vineyards 2021 Tximeleta. This easily quaffable rosé style wine is 100% Fer Servadou grown with intention for rosé production, whole cluster pressed and fermented in stainless steel. The nose is met with fresh cranberry and citrus notes. Racy acidity accompanied by wild strawberry and raspberry flavors awakens the palate. A chilled glass of Tximeleta paired with Rainbow trout, candied brussels sprouts and jasmine rice would be a perfect dinner. Our red wine selection for January is Chrysalis Vineyards 2020 Norton Locksley Reserve. Our flagship red best showcases what Norton can do when crafted with careful intention and attention. Elegant aromatics provide herbal notes of sage, with pronounced tobacco and dark red fruit aromas. This wine presents a frim structure and leaves a long finish of black pepper, spices, and black currant. Best enjoyed in 5-10 years, you may want to get a case and enjoy it over the years. 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 can’t make it out to pick up your wines on a monthly basis, we will hold them for you. Due to storage limitations, however, we do ask that you pick them up once you accumulate a case (6 months). We can also arrange for wine to be shipped to most locations, at your request. 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 ROOMMy name is Amitai Cohen and I would like to introduce myself to all of you and tell you how excited I am to be working at Chrysalis Vineyards at the Ag District. I moved to Virginia a year and a half ago from Sacramento, California, with the intention of getting into the political world but quickly took a u-turn and came back to the wine industry. I’ve worked in the hospitality industry for almost 15 years now. I got my start in high school while working in kitchens at summer camps, and then being a line cook at a swimclub. My next stop took me out of the country, where I found myself living in Jerusalem, working in the hotel industry. A couple of years after moving back to California I was living in Davis when I got my first job in a tasting room, working for a winery in the Sacramento Delta region, and I was hooked. The thing that attracted me most to this industry was the farming aspect. To grow a fruit, where you only get one shot a year to get it right, and then turn it into a beverage that has brought people together for thousands of years fascinates me, being the history nerd that I am. Combine that with the amazing cheese being produced in the creamery, the opportunity to work at Chrysalis was too good to pass up. I look forward to meeting everyone as we move forward into 2023. Come to a tasting with me and we can talk about Chrysalis wine and if you are lucky, I’ll share some of my grandmother’s best recipes from Morocco. |
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD
Okay, I really didn’t think it could get any colder and then Freddy told me it was 4 degrees. Presently the crew is beginning to prune the Norton and collect cuttings for the greenhouse. I know it seems early, but due to the recent demand in Norton vines, we’ve increased our volumes forcing us to start a bit earlier. Every Winter the crew turns to rough pruning the Norton to collect cuttings. Rough pruning is a term used to describe the “pre-pruning”. Normally, when you prune you cut everything above the spur, leaving around 2-4 buds. With rough pruning you leave about 6-8 buds in addition to your 2-4 primary buds. The collected cuttings are then further pruned back to about 10 inches or 10 buds. They are cleaned, dipped in root hormone, and then planted in nutrient rich soil held by paper boxes. Each box is placed into a tray creating a set of 24 and then stored in green house atop a network of small black hoses. These hoses are filled with flowing warm water that helps to keep the soil of the cuttings at 80 degrees. Keeping the soil warm and the ambient temperature of the green house kept cold, the cutting is tricked into focusing on root growth. This is done so that the cuttings will remain dormant due to cold temperatures of winter, but the warmer temperatures of the soil will encourage roots to grow and develop. By April we will have beautiful young Norton vines breaking bud in the green house. The entire enclosure will be filled with green growth and vines ready for new homes in the Spring! Jake Blodinger, Winemaker |
REPORT FROM THE CELLAR
Happy New Year! 2023 will start with the bottling of out newest vintage of everyone’s favorite wines. The Albariño Verde and Mariposa are tasting especially delicious and I can’t wait to share those with you. What I’m most excited about is opening the new year with a bottle of Farfalla! Our Farfalla, the newest entry in the Chrysalis lineup is another take on the ever growing popular “Pet Nat” style or Petillant Naturel. This translates to natural sparkling referencing the natural bubbles from bottling a fermentation in bottle. As yeast consumes sugar and produces alcohol, they create carbon dioxide. When this becomes trapped in bottle with wine, it carbonates the wine, manifesting itself as small prickly bubbles that tantalize the tongue. The Farfalla originated out of an experiment in 2020. The hypothesis was simple, “what are the other delicious wines we produce like if they had bubbles?” During the 2021 harvest, as each wine finished fermentation, I would bottle a small amount, trapping the fermentation in bottle. In early 2021, Jenni and I sampled a collection of different pet nats, we fell in love with what is now called Farfalla. Those of you who have tried this wine have asked about the haze and sediment found at the bottom of the bottle. This is simply the remnants of the fermentation or left over yeast cells. They won’t hurt you but will add a layer of bitterness to the wine. The easiest way to avoid this is to simply let the bottle stand for about 15 minutes in your fridge. You’ll find that all the sediment will settle at the bottom of the bottle. Carefully open the bottle and gently pour the wine on the lip of the glass, almost touching bottle to glass. When done carefully, all the sediment will remain at the bottom of the bottle undistrubed. This is a delicious sparkling Albariño wine that pays homage to the early days of Champagne, just before the discovery. I find the wine is absolutely enjoyed best with friends and family just before a meal. For food pairings, I recommend Locksley Farmstead Gouda or Maid Marian Camembert. An after dinner parfait with fresh fruit is also fun. Look for the 2021 Farfalla in the tasting room! Jake Blodinger, Winemaker |
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANYWhat is that creamy, white cheese that looks so delicious? That's our Maid Marian Camembert! Camembert is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese that has an edible rind that imparts earthy, mushroomy aromas and flavors. It's similar to Brie with deeper, stronger flavors and a spreadable texture. Camembert was originally made in the 18th century in Camembert, Normandy in Northern France. As this cheese ages it softens from the center outward toward the rind. Its creamy texture makes it a perfect spread on crackers or bread and its mild flavor pairs with a variety of accoutrements. Try it with a spicy peach chutney, honey, pepper jelly, or our own Norton jelly.
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Note from Jenni |
Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s hoping you have a happy, healthy and productive New Year! Chrysalis Vineyards is entering its 25th year, and when I think back on all the folks who have helped make my dream come true, our staff and all our wonderful customers and friends… I’m truly humbled and honored to have received all the help and kindness over the years. I’m so very fortunate! Thank you so very much. Our staff at Locksley Estate, Caeli Farm and The Ag District have put in so much effort over the years to help craft our fine products and ensure a wonderful experience to everyone that words are hardly sufficient to acknowledge them. My most heartfelt thanks to Teri Scott, Steven Stiles, Jake Blodinger, Fredi Villalobos, and all the folks that work with them to make our products so good, and your experience so memorable. Over the last 25 years I’ve watched the Virginia wine industry grow from 46 wineries when I first visited Virginia to notice such things, to now more than 300 wineries. And there are so many people that have helped us grow and advance our reputation through their promotions, reviews, bloggings and writings, so I thought this might be a proper opportunity to acknowledge them, too. I’ve had the honor to be interviewed by a number of folklorists and have been honored with my words added to the collection of the Library of Congress, and soon to be part of a series of interviews conducted by Fred Reno that will be donated to the University of Virginia. That seems so appropriate; as it was Thomas Jefferson who established that great educational institution, and who believed as we do, in the future of Virginia wine. (I have a little strip of now ragged paper that is taped to a shelf right above my computer that reads,
"We could in the United States make as great a variety of wines as are made in Europe, not exactly of the same kind, but doubtless as good." This was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1808, and I’ve been inspired by that vision over the years. I think Mr. Jefferson was right.) That fellow in my Note from Jenni photo is Fred Reno, a California wine executive who has fallen in love with Virginia wine and with Norton, The Real American Grape!® Thank you, Fred, for all your hard work and efforts to bring awareness and attention to Virginia. You’re part of the many, many thousands of folks who appreciate and believe in Virginia Wine. Again, Happy New Year… and Take Care, Jennifer McCloud Chrysalis Vineyards at The Ag District
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