JUNE NEWSLETTER 2026
IN THIS NEWSLETTER...
VIP Wines of the Month
Report from the Tasting Room
Report from the Vineyard & Winery
Report from Locksley Farmstead Cheese
Note from Jenni
This month welcomes summer and its long, warm days provide the perfect opportunity to visit The Ag District. Don't forget that we're open until 8pm on Friday and Saturday... plenty of time to spend a relaxing evening, enjoy dinner, and sip a glass of wine as the sun sets!
Don't forget to take some extra time to enjoy a full tasting presentation. Even if you visit often it's an opportunity to try a new vintage or learn something new from our experienced team!
THE FARM MARKET PRESENTS - Summer Roast
This month try one of our beef roasts! Whether it's Beef Bourguignon or BBQ Pulled Beef it will be better with a bottle of Bull Run Mountain Cuveé!
What’s inside:
• Your choice of Beef Roast
• One bottle of 2022 Bull Run Mountain Cuveé
A 10% discount will be applied at purchase. Price varies with size of roast.
*Available for pickup at The Ag District Center all month long! (while supplies last)*
JUNE EVENTS:
Friday Night Flights - Every Friday 5:00pm to close
Beginning on June 5th join us on Friday evenings to enjoy a $5 discount on all flights! A great way to start your weekend!
June 6 - Ag Day - 12 - 4pm (FREE to attend - wine tastings additional fee) Join us on Saturday, June 6th from 12–4 PM at The Ag District Center—home to Chrysalis Vineyards and Locksley Farmstead Cheese—for a family-friendly, open-house style event celebrating Virginia agriculture. Meet a baby calf, peek into the creamery and discover how cheese is made, try some of our delicious Locksley Farmstead cheeses, visit our Farm Market and sample some of our local products, or participate in a wine and cheese paired tasting.
June 12th at 6PM - VIP Pick-up Party - Luau - (RSVP REQ)
CLUB MEMBERS ONLY - Club Members MUST RSVP to TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com by June 7th. More information about this event can be found in the "Note to Our VIP Club Members" section of the newsletter. Want to join the party? Join the Club and RSVP today! To join our VIP Club CLICK HERE.
*Must be 21+ to attend. Held in our 21-and-over seating area.*
June 25th 5:00 - 6:00pm - Book Club (Sponsored by the Middleburg Library - Free to Attend)
This month we'll enjoy a discussion of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca. Join us at The Ag District Center, home to Chrysalis Vineyards, on Thursday, June 25th, from 5 to 6 PM for Book Club! Haven't read the book yet? No Problem. Come sip, listen to the discussion, and hear about next month's read!
*Must be 21+ to attend. Held in our 21-and-over seating area. *
NOTE TO OUR VIP CLUB MEMBERS
Join us on Friday, June 12th at 6 PM for our annual Luau! Enjoy some appetizers that will make you feel like you're in the tropics while we compete in a few fun games.
We kindly ask members to RSVP to TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com no later than Sunday, June 7th to reserve your spot. RSVPs received after June 7th 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 (2 per membership 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!
This June our VIP members will receive the 2023 Butterfly Rouge and 2021 Locksley Reserve Norton.
2023 Butterfly Rouge | Wine Club White Selection This wine is best served chilled and enjoyed casually with friends and family during a warm day or a family gathering. This off-dry, sweet-tart red has inviting notes of raspberries, dark fruits, and summer strawberries. The palate greets with bright acidity, perfectly ripened cherries, and that classic Norton character.
2021 Locksley Reserve Norton | Wine Club Red Selection 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. This wine presents a firm structure and leaves a long finish of black pepper, spices, and black currant. Best enjoyed when aged in good cellar conditions for 5+ years. Buy a case and enjoy 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 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
This month we'll be releasing a new wine in the tasting room, Chrysalis Vineyards 2024 Petit Manseng. This is our first vintage of Petit Manseng produced as a dry white wine. Petit Manseng hails from the Juracon region of Southwest France where it is traditionally used to make a sweet dessert wine. In the past we have honored that tradition, but with the 2024 vintage we decided to try something new! This medium bodied dry white has aromas of mango and tangerine with flavors of stone fruit, golden raisin, and lemon rind and a subtle finish of sweet ginger and dried peaches. Come try it while it lasts!
Beginning on June 6th we'll be offering spritzers in the tasting room! We hope that these delicious, light, refreshing drinks will quench your summer thirst as the temperatures rise!
Next time you visit make sure you stop to admire our new herb garden. With the help of Gathering Springs Farm and some lovely Master Gardeners from the Virginia Extension Office, our staff recently got their hands dirty and planted a selection of herbs that can be used in the kitchen. As the plants grow we'll be harvesting them and using them in the delicious pizzas, salads, and sandwiches that we all love!
See you in the tasting room!
- Lori Tate, Tasting Room Manager
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD AND WINERY
Farming is a challenge. We talk about the challenges that we face from time to time... not enough rain, too much rain, too hot, too cold, frost, hail, invasive insects, etc. etc. This year's biggest challenge, so far, was the widely publicized freeze that we experienced April 20-21. Temperatures were below freezing for many hours overnight. During the winter the vines are protected from freezing temperatures since they are dormant, but this freeze happened after budbreak when the new growth was exposed and vulnerable. In the matter of just a few hours the vineyard went from tinged with the bright green of new spring growth to the depressing brown of dead leaves.
We've largely avoided discussing this topic. Farming is farming. The temperatures dropped, the vines were damaged, and our harvest will be considerably smaller, but there's really nothing we can do about that other than continue to care for the vineyard. But our recent warm temperatures and, finally, alot of rain have revealed something that we don't always think about. The bright green of new growth has returned to much of the vineyard. The seconday and tertiary buds that are part of the vine's structure are coming to life. Those buds are there for exactly this reason... they ensure the survival of the vine when the weather threatens to kill it. Those shoots will produce the leaves that carry out photosynthesis, providing the necessary nutrients to feed the vine and strengthen the roots. Their job is to produce the energy needed to keep the vine alive, so they won't divert energy to fruit development, but the vine will survive to start the cycle again and hope for better weather next year.
The vineyard took a big punch from Mother Nature and it seems to be turning the other cheek and moving on. The 2026 harvest will undoubtedly be disappointing for many reasons, but there's always that hope that the 2027 harvest will be the best in our history!
Every day in the vineyard brings its share of challenges that affect the success of the harvest season. We're at the mercy of nature, but that's farming!
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY
June is National Dairy Month, a time when we try to give a bit of well deserved attention to the people that are at the root of all of our delicious dairy products. Our dairy manager, Steven Stiles, and his assistant, Randy McKeen, work tirelessly to care for our dairy herd. From early morning milkings to late night calving they put in long hours seven days a week. Their efforts ensure that we have healthy, happy cows that produce rich, creamy milk. We appreciate all their hard work and we hope that you appreciate the delicious cheese that is the result!
To get National Dairy Month off to a good start, come out to The Ag District to celebrate National Cheese Day on June 4th. Enjoy some farmstead cheese and a glass of wine and raise a toast to our hardworking dairymen that make it happen.
- Teri Scott, General Manager
Hello there !... there’s something worth repeating from Teri’s Report from the Tasting Room, and that’s the 2024 dry Petit Manseng we’re releasing now to the general public. We always give “first crack” to our VIP Club members when we release a new wine. But now it’s available for everyone. And it’s a Great White, if I do say so myself! We poured it at our May VIP Club Pick-up Party to universal raves. Good wine, indeed.
Interestingly, this is hardly a new grape for us, though. If you’ll recall, Chrysalis Vineyards, along with Dennis Horton, had put in America’s first commercial vineyards of Petit Manseng way back in 1998. A couple of years later, I did the petition to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) to have Petit Manseng added to the list of Prime Names for American Wines. That allows the naming of a wine by a grape variety, without have to put white wine or red wine, etc. on a wine label.
Anyway, that’s ancient history. What’s NOT ancient history is this new release of PMan in a 100% dry style. Picked a bit earlier than we do for our “sticky” (a rip-off from the Aussies who call their dessert wines stickies, and which we’ve been crafting in that style for 25 years). This presents fresh tropical, crispy fruit aromas and flavors of pineapple and sweet carambola. It has a deceptively “sweet” character, but it’s completely dry. Excellent!
If you’d like to explore this new style, or if you’re a seasoned lover of PMan, you better get your bones out to The Ag District soon, because this wine will surely sell out fast.
Hope to see you here in the beautifuly Virginia countryside..
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