JULY NEWSLETTER 2024
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
Did someone say, summer? Yes, it appears that it's finally here and, with it's arrival, a balmy heatwave that calls for a refreshing glass of wine from Chrysalis Vineyards! Come out to Chrysalis and enjoy a glass of Sarah's Patio Red, White, or one of our delicious rosés.
JULY MUSIC LINEUP:
July 6th - Patty Reese
July 13th - Luke Andrews
July 14th - Robbie Límon
July 20th - Lyndsie Nicholson
July 21st - Anthony Semiao
July 27th - Joe Martin
*Reminder: During our Summer Music Series enjoy music at Chrysalis Vineyards every Saturday (and the occasional Sunday) from 2-5 PM.*
July Events:
July 25th - Book Club (For Adults 21+ ONLY)
Join us at Chrysalis Vineyards on Thursday, July 25th, from 5 - 6 PM for Book Club! This gathering will occur on the last Thursday of every month and is completely free to attend. If you haven't read the book beforehand, don't fret! Come for the discussion and stay for the announcement of the next book to read so that you can join in on the fun.
Interested in attending? Email Jill.Smedley@TheAgDistrict.com.
NOTE TO OUR VIP CLUB MEMBERS
We invite our VIP club members to join us on July 12th for a White Wine Blending Pick-Up Party with the Winemaker! Members must RSVP no later than July 9th by emailing TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com. Please include your name, number attending (up to 2 per membership), and preferred time (5:00 PM or 6:30 PM). 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!
This month, our VIP Club members will enjoy the 2022 Viognier as their white wine selection. Our Viognier has aromas of tropical fruit, tangerine, and white flowers with notes of ripe peaches, sweet kumquat, and mango on the palate. Next time you're looking for the perfect summer wine, reach for a bottle of Viognier and savor its delightful, sun-kissed flavors!
The red wine selection for our VIP Club members this month is the 2021 Norton (Formerly named the Estate Bottled Norton). Our 2021 Norton has aromas of freeshia flowers, cherries, and black currant with notes of red plum, blackberries, and dried herbs on the palate.
Cheers to another month of extraordinary wines for our extraordinary VIP Club members!
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.
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
Family coming to town for a reunion?
Want to have a space to get together with friends for a leisurely afternoon of relaxation?
Surprising someone with a Bridal or Baby Shower?
Consider renting one of our beautiful pavilions and spending an afternoon at Chrysalis Vineyards to enjoy our wines, cheeses from Locksley Farmstead Cheese Company, and our picturesque views. Every occasion calls for some delicious food to make it memorable, and the Polished Foxx is here to assist you in choosing the perfect options. Our pavilions are located in family-friendly areas, so children are welcome as well. Our weekend Outdoor Bar is now open on Saturdays and Sundays (Weather dependant) for flights, glasses, and bottles. This bar is located conveniently next to the Pavilions for easy access for your guests.
Email me at TR-Manager@Chrysaliswine.com to rent your pavillion today!
Tasting Room Updates & Reminders:
*NEW HOURS - Monday - Thursday 12 - 6PM, Friday - Saturday 12 - 8PM, & Sunday 12 - 7PM
*Norton grapevines are back IN STOCK in the tasting room! Purchase a vine and bring a piece of Chrysalis to your very own back yard.
*Events - Our team is working hard to put together events that you'll love so stay up to date on all the happenings at Chrysalis Vineyards with our event calendar!
*Large Groups – We're ready to make your visit sensational! So, mark your calendars and set the date because it's time to visit us at Chrysalis Vineyards! Remember to reach out to us – TR-Manager@Chrysaliswine.com - when you’re coming to visit with a group larger than 8 ppl.
- Lori Tate, Tasting Room Manager
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD
It’s hot! Despite the heat, the vineyard crew is steadily working their way through our 70 acres, one vine at a time, slowly opening up the canopy and letting the dappled sunlight in to assist with ripening. While the crew has been hard at work, we’ve been walking the rows, closely monitoring the health of the vineyard and, most importantly, we’ve been trying to estimate our yields this year.
Since 2019, Freddy, Jenni, and I have been working hard to not only increase the quality of the fruit but also better dial in the yields. It's often remarked that Norton’s yield is somewhere between 4-6 tons and when you are farming 70 acres that’s an enormous amount of fruit. While having a lot of fruit means a whole lot of wine, it’s better for the health of the vine and the quality of the fruit to be around 3 tons per acre.
You’ve likely heard me talk about “source to sync” balance a lot and this applies here as well. We need to make sure that we have the correct amount of leaves to fruit ratio. Should either of these things be out of balance, the fruit quality will diminish or even struggle to ripen properly. With this in mind, we target 3 tons per acre, and the only way to do this is by doing a fruit estimate.
Every year, Freddy and I spend a few days walking around the vineyard, counting clusters to come up with an estimate. Once the estimate is complete, Jenni and I make the decision to drop some fruit on the ground. I know it sounds heartbreaking but at the end of the day it ensures a happy vineyard and premium quality wine.
- Jake Blodinger, Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE CELLAR
Last month in the Note from Jenni, she made a very slight announcement of the first foundational meeting of the Norton Network. A few folks at the last VIP party asked for more details, but Jill asked that I refrain from giving too many things away…so I’m going to do it anyway.
Okay, I won’t give all the details away…but I will say we managed to gather a ton of Virginia Norton producers from around the state to host a roundtable. The purpose of the roundtable was to taste and share our wine, talk about techniques, harvest chemistry, and the ups and downs. At the end of the day, we tasted around 15 very different wines all made from one variety.
The wines ranged from rosé styles, medium body reds, blends, and even a port. I constantly discuss how versatile Norton is and we produce it 5 different ways, 6 in certain years. We all know how unique all of the wines we produce are but tasting these wines from a collection of producers not only showcased the versatility but also regional typicity.
Regional typicity refers to the taste of a region that is clearly distinct from another region. We noticed that NOVA Norton tended to be more fruit-forward and jammy while Central Virginia was lighter in body with more of a tantalizing acid. The Eastern Nortons were lighter in color but packed a full flavor of strawberries and raspberries. It was quite fascinating.
There’s plenty more to discuss on the topic of Norton and I think our first roundtable really only skimmed the surface of understanding such a special varietal. At the end of the day, I think all the producers walked away amazed by what their neighbors are doing. There’s certainly more to discuss about Norton wine and there are some exciting things on the horizon, we can’t wait to share!
- Jake Blodinger, Winemaker
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY
Cheese has been a part of the human diet for thousands of years, even predating recorded history. It's believed that the first cheeses were the result of storing milk in containers fashioned from animal stomachs. If this were the case, it would be reasonable to believe that the rennet, naturally found in the stomach lining, would have produced curd as the milk was stored. Over the years, methods were perfected for producing, storing, and aging the curd. This long history of cheesemaking has developed a vast array of cheeses, resulting in the variety available to us today. It's no wonder then, that the average cheese consumption is estimated to be as much as 34 pounds per person each year! That’s a lot of cheeseburgers and charcuterie boards!
But cheese isn't just for eating—it's also the center of some unique traditions. Our friends across the pond in England have a long tradition of using cheese in a peculiar sporting event. The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-rolling and Wake is an annual festival held in Brockworth, England. Written accounts of this event date back to 1826, but it may have originated over 600 years ago and some accounts date it back to the days of Roman occupation. The main event of this festival involves rolling a wheel of cheese down a very steep hill while hoards of crazy people race each other to catch it. There are typically many injuries resulting from people tumbling down the hill, crashing into each other, hitting their heads, pulling muscles, breaking bones….you get the idea. The prize for all this fun is, of course, the wheel of cheese that they were chasing.
Here at Locksley Farmstead Cheese, we prefer to keep our cheeses contained in a nice cold refrigerator where you can select one of the delicious varieties without chasing it down a hill. If you need a laugh, sit back with some Locksley Farmstead Cheese and a glass of Chrysalis Vineyards wine and peruse the many videos of this event available online. When you start questioning the sanity of the British contestants, consider the fact that the reigning two-time women’s champion hails from North Carolina!
- Teri Scott, General Manager
When someone asks you who your favorite child is, how do you answer? When someone asks you, in front of your spouse or mate who often does the cooking, what’s your favorite dish they prepare? “Uhh.., welll...uhh...”. Most often, I suppose, you skate and offer up some patty-cake answer. “I love all my children equally.”… “Every dish has its own special appeal.” OK, yes… we get it... you’re basically asked a tricky, and most often, no-win-answer question!
But not always! So it is when I’m asked, “What’s your favorite wine?” Of course, that’s a much easier question to answer than giving the opinion on the proportion of affection you show towards your kids. But, it’s still not an easy question to answer. Although the real answer might sound like a bit of squirrelly BS, there’s truth in the apparent equivocation of the safe answer. It depends!
Indeed, it depends. It depends on what you’re eating… or what you’ve just eaten earlier in the day, or drank yesterday. Or what you “feel like”. You get it. And part of the “it depends” is the season… the weather. When it’s hot, I want a cool wine. When the fare is summer veggies and fruits, I want a lighter wine. But we don’t stop eating meat, right? What about a summer barbecue? So, what to have?
A rosé! A fresh, fruity, red-fruit-forward wine is the perfect compromise between a white and a red wine. Rosés dance the part. They complement lighter fare, and a full-bodied one can stand up to ribs smoked on the grill. Perfect!
BTW, it just so happens that a couple weeks ago we just celebrated National Rosé Day. Time for drinking some of our wonderful rosé wines we craft here at Chrysalis Vineyards. Come and partake!
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