IN THIS NEWSLETTER...

VIP Pickup Party... at the ADC
Creative Mankind Painting and Wine

Report from the Tasting Room
Report from the Cellar
Report from the Vineyard
Report from the Farm

Note from Jenni

VIP PICKUP PARTY…
at the AG DISTRICT CENTER

Saturday, March 10th
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
at The Ag District
(RSVP REQUIRED)

Well....a little over two weeks after the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter we were basking in the almost 80° sunshine at the Ag District! Virginia weather is certainly fickle and February proved that. It would be nice if we could really believe that winter is over. Unfortunately, March is no less fickle! Good weather or not, the Ag District is open 7 days a week and Laurie and her tasting room staff are ready to give you a warm welcome and a cold glass of wine!

Our VIP Pickup Party this month will be held on March 10th from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm. This event is FREE for our members (2 attendees per membership), but does REQUIRE advance RSVP no later than March 7th. To RSVP please send an email to VIP-Club@ChrysalisWine.com. Verbal RSVP’s and voice mail responses cannot be guaranteed confirmation.

Our fall and winter hours are in effect until the end of March and the Ag District Center will be open 10am – 5pm Monday through Sunday. Our spring and summer hours begin on April 1st and we will be open 10am - 6pm Monday through Thursday and 10am - 7pm Friday through Sunday. Please remember… as always, our last 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 2015 Papillon. The 2015 vintage is a blend of 66% Tannat and 34% Petit Verdot fermented in stainless steel and barrel aged for 14 months. It opens with notes of black currant, cherry and bit of oaky smokeness with an underlying mélange of pepper, sage, and violets from the Petit Verdot portion of the blend. Flavors to be experienced may include cassis, black cherry, cedar and tobacco with medium tannins finishing off the experience. A big wine such as this Papillon, that is fruit-forward and has a firm tannin structure, will pair with red meats that are well caramelized from grilling or roasting and accompanied by a red-wine based sauce.

Our white wine selection for February is Chrysalis Vineyards 2016 Sarah's Patio Red. Sarah’s Patio Red is a 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 and pulp 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. This wine is redolent of ripe red berry fruit, herbs and a touch of rose petal. Moderately sweet and spritzy, this wine is refreshing and an easy pairing with many foods. Pair this with chicken tortilla soup or with a dessert of mixed berries topped with crème fraîche.

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, March 24th
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, March 24th. (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 and creating your own masterpiece! 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.

REPORT FROM THE TASTING ROOM

As we look forward to spring and the time change this month we want to remind our VIP Club members and loyal customers of all the wonderful benefits that VIP Club membership conveys. Our VIP Club members receive 4 free tastings with every visit. What could be  better than spending an afternoon with friends at The Ag. District enjoying complimentary tastings of our award winning wines!  Don't forget that if you bring a guest and they join you will receive a one-time 25% discount on any tasting room purchase. Members also receive a 15% discount on all wine purchases and many other tasting room products. One of the most popular benefits is our monthly "VIP Pickup Party" -- a great time to come out to the the Ag District to pick up your monthly wine selection, chat with fellow members, and enjoy some treats selected to pair with the wines of the month. Every September we go all out for our members at our annual VIP Appreciation party --- a fantastic evening of food, wine, music, and friends that is FREE to VIP Club members. So..... if you are already a member make sure you take advantage of all of your benefits. If you aren't a member, well....what are you waiting for????

 Laurie Stevens, Tasting Room Manager

REPORT FROM THE CELLAR

I’m very excited about the 2017 Mariposa and Sarah’s Patio Red that were bottled last month. The Mariposa is just awash in strawberry, watermelon and cherry aromas and flavors, with just a touch of sweetness in the finish. Our Mariposa has become a perennial favorite since we introduced it as our first rosé way back in 2006. Our tasting room manager, Laurie Stevens, really loves Mariposa and has given the 2017 vintage a double thumbs up! As we put on the Mariposa label,“Whether it’s picnics or pizza, turkey or tapas, this rosé is ideal with finger foods, but stands up just as well to a full meal. Dress it up, dress it down, Chrysalis Vineyards Mariposa is unpretentious, flexible and practical.”

The Sarah’s Patio Red just engulfs your senses in a mélange of red berry fruits and rose petals, just beckoning for a warm day on the deck (or Patio! Duh!) to enjoy it with a light dessert of strawberries and cream. Now our attention has turned to finishing off several Reds for our next Bottling Day and cutting blends from the 2017 harvest. Fun times!

Sláinte!

Mark Patterson, Winemaker

REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD

The fine weather we have had through the winter thus far has allowed our small vineyard team to make short work of pruning in the Norton at Locksley Estate. Attention is now focused on the vines that go into the production of Papillon, Viognier, Albariño, Albariño Verde and the Private Reserve wines. The mild, but not too mild (other than a couple of short periods of unseasonable warmth in February), weather has also allowed us the opportunity to work on some vineyard remediation, general cleanup around the estate, and to prepare new Norton cuttings for replants and offsite sales. We are North America’s largest source for Norton grapevines, a vine that is notoriously difficult to root (which may have partially lead to its decline in importance post-Prohibition), and have had great success developing proprietary techniques over the years leading to a high percentage of viable vines for planting. In the spring you will sometimes see these rooted vines available for individual sales at the Ag District.

Mark Patterson, Winemaker

REPORT FROM THE FARM

Hello all! --
As my first entry in this newsletter, I would like to extend an invitation to you all in the form of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost:

The Pasture
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

We have so many new and exciting things happening here at the farm. In our journey towards implementing sustainable agricultural systems and bringing you premium quality farm products, I hope we can become a leading resource in reconnecting folks with their food and where it comes from. The who, where, why and how matter when it comes to what we put in our bodies. So- fellow producers, food industry professionals, curious consumers, and expert foodies- let's make each other the best we can be. -You come too!

 Eric Hilgartner, Estate Manager

Today I was on the phone with my old friend, Robert Farr, a fellow Loudoun County resident that y’all might remember as The Chile Man. Years ago Robert put farming on hold to return to his previous career as a high-powered marketing exec. So when he talks marketing, I listen. We were talking about our newsletter, and I mentioned that we’ve sent it out, on time, every month… without fail, for 15 straight years now. He thought this was fantastic, and that we should be proud. Well, we are. And we love telling everyone what we’re up to here at The Ag District.

What we’re most proud of, though, is what we’ve created here on this beautiful land; a multi-product artisan food center. In fact, that’s why, several years ago, I appended The Ag District to our names. Our vision includes not only fine wines from grapes that love our soils, but artisan cheese, bread, and foods of all kinds prepared from products grown right here. And it’s happening now… this spring!

Robert told me to post a video in my Note from Jenni, “‘... cause people like ‘em”. “Okay, I will”, I told him.

Before we opened the ADC (Ag District Center) we shot a video of me sitting upstairs talking about our vision, and what makes us go, day after day. So I decided to show you this video, to share again my vision of The Ag District. Thanks, Robert, for the good suggestion.

Click here to watch me talk about why we’re here, working so hard to bring the best products we can to our friends and neighbors… to you.

Spring’s right around the corner, so carve out a few hours to come share our vision with us at one of the prettiest places on planet Earth.

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