JUNE NEWSLETTER 2020
IN THIS NEWSLETTER...
VIP Wines of the Month
Report from the Tasting Room
Report from the Cellar
Report from the Farm
Report from The Little River Bakehouse
Report from Locksley Farmstead Cheese
Note from Jenni
On May 29th Loudoun County and the rest of Northern Virginia will enter Phase 1, our first step back toward normal operations. Our customers will be able to enjoy our wine, cheese, pizza and other items while getting some much needed fresh air. That's right folks, we can finally allow you to have a seat outside and stay for a while!
We will, of course, have some special rules and procedures in place in order to make sure everyone stays healthy. Our tables will be spaced out, and sanitized between uses. Our staff will continue to wear masks and wash our hands. Touch surfaces and restrooms will be cleaned frequently. In short, we will all be working extra hard to make sure our faciilities are as clean as possible for our guests.
In return we will ask our customers to help us out by following the guidelines that will be provided to them when they enter the property. Everyone must maintain appropriate social distance from others, we will not allow groups of more than 10, and we ask that you clean off your tables before leaving. There are a few other rules that will help things work smoothly. You can see the full list by clicking here.
We are excited to be able to welcome you back and hope that wilth your help we will be able to successfully move through Phase 1 and get one step closer to normal!
Due to our current operating restrictions related to the COVID-19 virus, we will not be holding our monthly VIP pickup party in June. Stay healthy and we will see you when things return to normal!
Our hours are 12:00pm - 6:00pm Monday - Thursday, 12:00pm - 8:00pm Friday and Saturday, and 12:00pm - 7:00pm Sunday. We have great wine, hot pizza, take-home pizza kits, farmstead cheese, fresh bread, eggs, and more - all availble 7 days a week. You can place your order ahead of time by calling 540-687-8222 or stop by to place your order at the window.
The white wine selection for our VIP Club members this month is Chrysalis Vineyards 2018 Sarah's Patio White. This semi-sweet wine is 100% Vidal Blanc and a perennial favorite in the tasting room. The palate is greeted with a touch of sweetness, honey suckle, and ripe peaches. On the mid palate, a light honeydew and lychee fruit leads to a soft finish that will remind you of relaxing on the front porch.... refreshing, clean, and uncomplicated. Enjoy a glass of Sarah's Patio White with a slice of home-made apple pie and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for an after dinner treat!
Our red wine selection for May is Chrysalis Vineyards 2017 Petit Verdot, Petit Verdot is one of the five principal red varieties grown in the Bordeaux appellation of France. It’s also one of the most highly valued grape varieties grown in Virginia. This vintage opens with waves of blackberry and plum, and notes of coffee, toasted oak and maybe a touch of black pepper and sage following. The palate is greeted with ripe blackberry, currants, a touch of dark chocolate and some well-rounded tannins. Open a bottle at your next summer gathering with some hearty beef ribs.
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. 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.
REPORT FROM THE TASTING ROOM
Look at all that empty space! We hope to see it beginning to fill up starting Friday. It's been way too long since we've seen the smiling faces of our customers and we sure have missed all of you. The weather has finally warmed up and it's the perfect season to enjoy the Ag District.
We hope that you will stop by in the coming weeks. There's no better way to welcome summer than spending an afternoon sipping wine, eating pizza and taking in the beautiful Virginia countryside! And while you're here pick up some goodies to take home! We've got delicious breads, cheese, eggs, and much more!
Cheers!
Laurie Stevens, Tasting Room Manager
REPORT FROM THE CELLAR
This month has been a whirlwind of excitement, another round of bottling and more fantastic wines started off the month. As always, I won’t spoil the line up, but this bottling was a lot fun for the production crew. I can also proudly say the 2019 reds have officially been racked!
Since we only have a short time before the July bottling, we turn our attention to evaluating the red wines. After the racking process, we give the wine a few more weeks in barrel before tasting them again. As always, we assess wines for quality and profile. While it’s much too early to bottle the 2019 Norton Locksley Reserve, Jason and I will begin working on candidate blends. The Norton Locksley Reserve is Chrysalis Vineyard’s flagship wine and requires very careful consideration of every component from the barrels used; to the exact percentage of Tannat, Petit Verdot, and Norton.
We use these components because Tannat is known to be extremely tannic and abrasive on the palate and requires proper aging in barrel, usually around 12-16 months just to smooth it out. Tannat also ages well in the bottle, softening up and becoming more approachable as time passes. Our Petit Verdot provides good tannin structure with desirable plum and violet aromatics, making it a perfect blender to elevate bold red wines. Norton provides the perfect amount of lush fruit and beautiful color. With the proper amount of new French oak and careful consideration of tannin, acid, and structure, we are able to produce a wine perfect for bottle aging, while showcasing what Norton is really capable of!
Jake Blodinger, Assistant Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD
The vineyard has sprung to life and bloom is not far away. With the abundance of rain lately the vineyard is pushing shoots ranging anywhere from 6 -12 inches. It is wonderful to see the vigorous growth of a new growing season, but constant care is always required. Before bloom the crew focuses on shoot thinning. We select the healthiest, strongest shoots to encourage quality fruit development. Once shoot thinning is finished the crew turns their attention to training the new shoots through the various catch wires.
Our vinifera varieties are actually planted on a trellis system called “Vertical Shoot Position”, or VSP for short. This particular system trains the shoot to grow up through a series of wires that help keep it in a vertical position, hence the name. This trellis system helps with sunlight and ensuring uniform fruit development.
Our Norton is grown on a separate trellis system called “Geneva Double Curtain”, GDC for short. Norton is Virginia’s grape and like most native varieties it grows vigorously. GDC assits in managing Norton’s dense canopy by splitting the growth horizontally over the top and allowing sunlight to reach the interior of the canopy, thus encouraging proper fruit development. As the shoots grow over the wire and eventually towards the ground, they form a “curtain” that creates shade for the fruit during the early and late parts of the day when photosynthesis is not occurring as much.
Jake Blodinger, Assistant Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE LITTLE RIVER BAKEHOUSE
Hello from the Little River Bakehouse up here on Tasting Room Hill. I just wanted to thank everybody that has come out to support us over the last couple of months. We are entering phase 1 of reopening which fills me with very nervous excitement. As we try to adjust to the changes please help us out with your continued patience and adaptability. Some of the safety precautions we are taking include daily wellness check-ups of our staff, implementing mandatory face masks while on premise, and constantly and fastidiously sanitizing and cleaning. Our outdoor seating will become available during Phase 1 and we have spread out our picnic tables so that you can catch some sun and fresh air as you dine or imbibe with us. We will have some of our staff patrolling the grounds to make sure everything is staying compliant with the phased reopening. All I ask from our customers is to please respect the face mask rule unless you are eating and drinking and if you have any symptoms to please come back on day when you are certain you are not infected with anything that could be passed on to our staff and other customers.
Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, how about we talk grub! I will be introducing some new menu items as we reopen, these options include fresh made Paninis, and a Charcuterie plate that will include our own Locksley Farmstead cheeses. I will also be adding some of our best-selling pizza specials over the course of this pandemic to our regular pizza menu.
This past weekend we had some complications with our pizza oven causing us to shift gears again, because my pizza conquest must go on, and switch from propane to cooking with wood fire. Cooking with wood is one of my favorite ways to cook because it makes it just a bit harder and always presents a challenge, like making sure the fire doesn't get out of hand but can still burn hot enough and steady enough to maintain a pizza oven for 10 or more hours. My wood fire cookery experience has been limited to BBQ and grilling for the most part, so baking with it is presenting a new set of challenges to overcome but this is the era of pivoting and adjusting to new problems every day. I hope everybody is staying safe and healthy out there, both physically and mentally and I hope to have you out for a pizza pie soon.
Keaton Beus, Little River Bakehouse Manager
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY
June is dairy month! 2020 marks the 83rd annual celebration of this nutritious and delicious category of products! Dairy products including milk, yogurt and CHEESE provide important nutritional benefits through high-quality proteins, vitamins A and D as well as minerals such as calcium to keep your bones strong and healthy. Did you know that there are 8 grams of protein in just ONE, 8 oz cup of milk? Not to mention milk is the freshest product you can buy at grocery stores near you, from farm to store in just 48 hours! Milk is a local food that definitely fits the clean eating trend! What better way to end a work-out than with a big glass of my personal favorite, chocolate milk. Proven to be the best post-workout beverage for muscle recovery and energy replenishment. Celebrate World Milk Day on June 1st with us and dairy farmers around the world by raising a big glass of your favorite white, chocolate or strawberry milk beverage! I challenge you all for the month of June to celebrate dairy month with us by snapping a photo enjoying our cheeses or perhaps an artisan pizza from the Little River Bake House that is topped with our stringy, mouth-watering Mozzarella. Be sure to tag us @LocksleyCheese on Instagram and Facebook, using the hashtags #NationalDairyMonth and #UndeniablyDairy ! I can't wait to see all of your wonderful pictures and ways you are enjoying our cheeses along with all of your other favorite dairy products this month! Stop by the Ag District Center pickup window any day of the week, for your favorite Locksley Farmstead Cheeses and Little River Bakehouse Artisan Pizzas. Join us in celebrating June is Dairy Month (even though we think every month should be dairy month) and remember, three servings of dairy a day!
Erin Saacke, Assistant Cheesemaker
Welcome back! Things are not entirely back to normal, but at least you can sit outside and relax with a friend or two, eat some delicious food crafted by Chef Keaton, drink some wine… and just enjoy the countryside!
We’ve been diligently preparing to safely receive our guests while ensuring great customer care. But first, let me thank those customers and friends that have continued to support us during the lockdown. I know it’s been frustrating to just pick up food and wine when it’s beautiful outside, the sun is shining and there’s a big picnic table sitting all by its lonesome. It’s been very frustrating for us, too. It’s not lost on us that you’ve kept coming. Thank you.
The crew at The Ag District have implemented all the safety protocols and procedures outlined by the federal, state and local authorities so that you can feel confident and safe in visiting The Ag District. We ask that you please “wear your hat”, too, as a responsible patron and follow our prescribed regulations. Please keep in mind that there are others who also want to enjoy our grounds, and who most likely don’t know you or where you’ve been. Be attentive and respectful of others.
Thanks again… welcome back, and.. . Enjoy!
Take care,
Jennifer McCloud
Chrysalis Vineyards at The Ag District
39025 John Mosby Highway (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