IN THIS NEWSLETTER...
VIP Pickup Party... at the ADC
Creative Mankind Painting and Wine
Report from the Tasting Room
Report from the Vineyard
Report from the Cellar
Report from the Farm
Note from Jenni
VIP PICKUP PARTY…
at the AG DISTRICT CENTER
Saturday, June 16th
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
at The Ag District
(RSVP REQUIRED)
June marks the first month of summer, a season full of outdoor barbeques, pool parties, and long evenings relaxing on the patio. All perfect places to enjoy a bottle of your favorite Chrysalis Vineyards wine! Stop by the Ag District Center and pick up a refreshing bottle of Mariposa or Sarah's Patio White to chill, or maybe a bottle of Schitz & Giggels to go with those ribs you're grilling, or some Viognier to pair with some skewered shrimp, or.....well, whatever you're doing we're sure to have the perfect wine for the occasion! Better yet, come on out and buy a bottle to enjoy at the Ag District before you go home! We will have live music every Saturday from 2:00-5:00 pm (June 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th). Chrysalis Vineyards wine and live music... no better way to spend a summer day!
On another note..... if you haven't already discovered our NEW WEBSITE please be sure to check it out at ChrysalisWine.com. It's full of great information about Chrysalis Vineyards and the Ag District Center and for those of you who don't have time to get out for a visit, now you can purchase your favorite Chrysalis Vineyards wines online!
Our VIP Pickup Party this month will be held on June 16th from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm (Please note the time!). This event is FREE for our members (2 attendees per membership), but does REQUIRE advance RSVP no later than June 13th. To RSVP please send an email to VIP-Club@ChrysalisWine.com. Verbal RSVP’s and voice mail responses cannot be guaranteed confirmation.
Our spring and summer hours began on April 1st and we are now open 10am - 6pm Monday through Thursday and 10am - 7pm Friday through Sunday. Please remember… as always, our last full tasting will start an hour before closing. Last call for purchases of open bottles or glasses will be 30 minutes before closing!
The red wine selection for our VIP Club members this month is Chrysalis Vineyards 2017 Buttorfleoge. Buttorfleoge (Old English word for butterfly) is our sparkling Norton wine. Using the methode ancestrale technique ‘rediscovered’ in the Loire in the 1990s, but going back centuries to Limoux and Gaillac, this 100% whole-clustered pressed Norton wine is produced using only the natural microflora found on the skins and rachises of the grapes grown on the Locksley Estate. The result is a true, terroir-driven pétillant-naturel (or Pét Nat). This wine pours with a pleasing garnet-coloured hue, with a healthy mousse. Your nose is greeted with a prickle from the newly-released carbon dioxide, which gives way to a red fruit mélange of blackberries, cherries and strawberries. Upon degustation the upfront fizz gives way to the flavorful medley of the red fruits mentioned above and an impression of sweetness that is not really there, finishing with the bracing acidity that is a Norton trademark. Try pairing Buttorfleoge with a plate of oysters for a decadent summer treat!
Our white wine selection for June is Chrysalis Vineyards 2017 Sarah's Patio Red. Sarah’s Patio Red is a semi-sweet, light red wine made in the style of a rosé. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed, as they would be for many white wines, but with Norton, there’s so much color in the skins that the juice at this very early processing stage has plenty of color and yields a deep red hue. This wine is fresh, fruity, and bottled early to preserve the fleeting aromas of fermentation. Lighter Norton color, character, and alcohol make this an easy-drinking wine. The initial impression is a nose redolent in ultraripe, red strawberries, followed by a hint of clove and rose petals Upon tasting one is struck by more ripe, red strawberries and a touch of spritz. The wine finishes with a sweet medley of red berry fruits and happiness. Enjoy Sarah's Patio Red refrigerator cold with a perfectly grilled burger and you can't go wrong!
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.
Also, please remember that you can always find your paired recipes and detailed tasting notes at www.ChrysalisWine.com in the Private VIP Club Area. Pairings and tasting notes are available for wines dating all the way back to 2007 (especially useful for any of those with older, aged vintages). Also check in with us or follow us on Facebook for updates and announcements.
NOTE: Please do not reply to this emailed Newsletter. Your email will not be handled in a timely manner or may even be lost.
Creative Mankind Painting and Wine
Saturday, June 9th
1 pm – 4 pm
at the
Ag District Center
39025 John Mosby Highway
Middleburg, VA 20117
Creative Mankind will be hosting a “paint and sip” event at Chrysalis Vineyards on Saturday, June 9th. (From their website: Creative Mankind is an art company that offers art classes and hosts parties and events for all ages. Our motto is “Everyone is a Creative Genius!” It's just a matter of people reconnecting with their creative self. Our mission is to enrich our community with art education and culture in a fun and accessible way.)
So... spend a fun afternoon laughing, listening to music, creating your own masterpiece, and sipping your favorite Chrysalis Vineyards wine! This 3 hour event is just $40 and includes all art supplies, an awesome staff, and a lot of fun. No experience is necessary. For additional information please contact Creative Mankind at 571-403-1912 or go to their website listed below. [Editor's Note: cut and paste this long link if it doesn't activate by clicking on it. Thanks.].
https://sites.cimplebox.com/events/registration.aspx?s=5329&c=3146&eid=404482&r=0.1191576
REPORT FROM THE TASTING ROOM
Welcome Summer! The warm happy days of June are finally upon us! June is usually a month packed with activities for everyone. Whether it be the end of the school year, a college graduation or celebrating a wedding, wine seems to be a constant companion to these celebrations.
Our Tasting Room staff will be asked countless times over the next few weeks what is the perfect pairing for a special celebratory dish. Our answers will vary but there is one that will stand out above the rest during this month of celebrating, our Sparkling Norton, Buttorfleoge. The tickle of bubbles and the aroma of Norton make it the perfect wine to “pop” and enjoy on a special occasion. It will pair perfectly with everything from a fruit and cheese plate, fresh oysters or a berry parfait topped with the most decadent whip cream. YUM!
Laurie Stevens, Tasting Room Manager
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD
They run and hide their heads.
They might as well be dead.
If the rain comes!’
‘If the rain comes,
And it did. For 8 days straight! But we didn’t hide our heads. It certainly complicated things in the Vineyard. Shoot thinning and under-row maintenance schedules were interrupted. The potential for fungal infections, particularly Downy Mildew (Plasmopara viticola) and Black Rot (Guignardia bidwellii), increase exponentially as temperatures and degree of wetness increase. And it was wet! For days on end, which made it impossible to get into the fields and attack the fungal spores with sprays to protect the vines and eradicate burgeoning infections. We managed to get into the fields immediately after the rain ceased and stepped up our Integrated Management Program (IPM) which combines cultural, physical, chemical, and biological control measures to keep any damage to a minimum while also assuring that sustainable viticulture is taking place. Inspection as of this writing has not found any widespread outbreaks of fungal infection which could prove to be devastating, but we will maintain vigilance over the next few days to ensure that there are no latent infections ready to burst forth. Rain in spring in Virginia also portends hail, which you may all remember caused a few issues around Middleburg in June of 2016! Locksley Estate was spared from any hail this go around, but there is evidence of some hail damage at our Hollin Vineyard. At this early stage of development the vines and canopy will recover, and there doesn’t appear to be any damage to the inflorescences at this time and should cause little further issues as the season progresses. We could do with long stretch of drier weather right now, though.
Mark Patterson, Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE CELLAR
We bottled a couple of wines in May that we’re really excited to be able to bring to you shortly, so keep your eyes open for some new summery drinks. A lot of blending and barrel work has been going on in the cellar the last month or two, with final preparations taking place for multiple spring bottlings, as well as for future releases. The newest vintages of Albariño, Viognier and our “VIP Club Members Only” release, Private Reserve White, are currently going through the final steps before bottling. The Albariño has all the peachy-goodness expected from this variety, with perhaps a touch of ripe kiwi fruit as well. The Viognier currently is expressing notes of honeysuckle and peach, and its rich mouthfeel belies the fact that it is, indeed, dry. The Private Reserve White is peach-centric, with underlying notes of vanilla, coconut and clove from the fermentation in barrel it goes through, finishing with a creamy character derived from the bâtonnage (stirring the yeast lees... as with a baton) it goes through once primary fermentation is complete. The bâtonnage routine helps plump up the finish by carefully managing the autolysis of the dead yeast cells so they don’t compact on the bottom, and releases mannoproteins and polysaccharides into the wine. Bâtonnage also helps to integrate the oak tannins from the barrels into an especially pleasant and appetizing whole.
Mark Patterson, Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE FARM
Hello again! --
Another month, another picture! Look closely; no, we’ve not entered the giant, farm-raised marshmallow market. Almost as ground-breaking, here is an individually wrapped, high-moisture hay bale. Actually, this one is the first we have ever made on this farm. Making “baleage,” as it is called, is just one more way we are trying to bring our cows the best, and offers several advantages when used along with traditional hay making methods.
As a feed, it is harvested at peak nutrition in a much shorter time period than dry hay. Putting it away “wet” saves precious nutrients by minimizing exposure to the air, sun, and rain. Under plastic, the forage goes through an anaerobic fermentation process that breaks down tough fibers and makes nutrients more available. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak… they eat the stuff like candy! These giant marshmallows are made with love just for you, cows. Enjoy!
Eric Hilgartner, Estate Manager
Sarah Dornin, our chef/baker, and I just got back from Bread Stone Ovens, in Dallas, Texas, where we went for training on how to operate our new Four Grand-Mère oven (boy, that sounded like really cool French to me, but it turns out it just means Grandmother’s Oven… haha!). The owner, Antoine Canterel, somehow wound up in Texas, but he’s definitely French and can he make bread… and flatbreads, too!
We spent three days of intensive training to learn how to load wood into and fire the oven, manage the burning, and prepare and shape the doughs into baguettes and boules (from the French for “ball”). Sarah, of course, is already way ahead on making great bread, which y’all have been enjoying over the past few weeks. So she was really focused on oven operation; fire management and breads and flatbread control in the oven. Me, I was mostly just havin’ fun. Of course, I do want to know all the details and processes involved in making our artisan food products, so that I can “think” and “create” along with our “food artisans” - winemaker, cheesemaker and baker. (BTW, I always like giving a shout out to those who have helped us along the way, and for anyone interested in their own backyard brick oven, Antoine is your go-to guy. He has ovens of all sizes, and they are of the highest quality, and accompanied by his excellent customer service.)
Sometimes, in the thick of activity and work, I forget how fortunate I am... and all of us are for that matter, to live and work in such a beautiful place, creating and crafting such exciting and fulfilling projects and products. Thank you to all of our friends, supporters and customers for making it possible. We are committed to bringing you the very best artisan food products we possibly can, for you to enjoy and proudly share with your friends and families.
Come on out to the countryside… it’s summer!
Jennifer McCloud
Chrysalis Vineyards at The Ag District
39025 John Mosby Highway (Tasting Room)
23876 Champe Ford Road (Winery/Offices)
Middleburg, VA 20117
McCloud@ChrysalisWine.com
Office: 540-687-8222
www.ChrysalisWine.com
Facebook.com/ChrysalisVineyards