AUGUST 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
August, the last month of the summer season, is upon us. Be sure to enjoy those final warm summer evenings with your favorite Chrysalis Vineyards wine! A cold glass of Butterfly Blanc with a plate of fresh peaches, a juicy, grilled rib-eye with a glass of Locksley Reserve Norton, or a glass of Butterfly Rouge with some chili-rubbed ribs - whatever you choose you can't go wrong!
As the summer months pass and you begin to settle back into a regular routine, be sure to make visits to The Ag District a part of your plan! Friday evening dinners, weekly shopping in our market, or a relaxing Sunday afternoon tasting before the work week starts, they're all great reasons to visit!
THE FARM MARKET PRESENTS - Wine & Cheese
Come on in and pick up the perfect combination of local products.
What’s inside:
- One bottle of Chrysalis Vineyards wine of your choice
- One selection of Locksley Farmstead Cheese
- One box of crackers
A 10% discount will be applied at purchase. Discount may not be combined with any other discounts.
*Available for pickup at The Ag District Center all month long! (while supplies last)*
AUGUST EVENTS:
Friday Night Flights - Every Friday 5:00pm to close
Join us on Friday evenings to enjoy a $5 discount on all flights! A great way to start your weekend!
August 2nd 2:00 - 5:00 - Music by California Bob
Join us as Bob Hale, "California Bob", performs his unique, original compositions. Grab a seat on the lawn, pour a glass of wine, and relax!
August 14th at 6PM - VIP Pick-up Party - Summer Picnic - (RSVP REQ)
CLUB MEMBERS ONLY - Club Members MUST RSVP to TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com by August 9th. 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.*
August 22 8:30 & 10:00 - Chrysalis Vineyards 5K Wine Run (registration required in advance)
Come on out to the Ag District for a morning run through the farm and a celebratory glass of wine! This run supports our chosen charity, Black Horse Forge, a cadre of Veterans and Active Duty along with Law Enforcement. This event is organized by Wine Run 5K - for more information and registration click here - Chrysalis Vineyards 5K.
August 27th 5:00 - 6:00pm - Book Club (Sponsored by the Middleburg Library - Free to Attend)
Join us at The Ag District Center, home to Chrysalis Vineyards, on Thursday, August 27th, from 5 to 6 PM for Book Club! This month is a reader's choice discussion, so pick your favorite and be ready to share! Haven't had time to read this month? No Problem. Come sip, listen to the discussion, and hear about next month's book!
NOTE TO OUR VIP CLUB MEMBERS
Join us on Friday, August 14th at 6 PM! We'll be gathering under the pavilion for a relaxed summer evening featuring delicious food, wine pours, lawn games, tabletop games, and great company. Whether you're discovering a new favorite wine, enjoying a friendly game, or simply unwinding with fellow Wine Club members, we look forward to sharing another memorable evening with you.
We kindly ask members to RSVP to TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com no later than Sunday, August 9th to reserve your spot. RSVPs received after August 9th 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 August our VIP members will receive our 2024 Albariño Verde and 2020 Papillon.
2024 Albariño Verde | Wine Club White Selection 100% Albariño, whole-cluster pressed and stainless steel fermented, this crisp citrusy wine is bright and refreshing. Tropical aromatics comprised of banana and pineapple are reminiscent of sandy beaches and blue waters. The palate is greeted with racy acidity and slight pin pricks of effervescence. Flavors of fresh zested limes, sharp lemon rind, and ripe grapefruit grace the palate.
2020 Papillon | Wine Club Red Selection The red selection for this month’s VIP shipment is the 2020 Papillon. This full-bodied blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot offers intense aromatics of licorice and dark fruit, evolving into complex notes of baking spices and dried cherries. On the palate, enjoy bold flavors of dark fruits, cardamom, and a smoky, lingering finish.
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're releasing our newest Norton wine to the public! As always, our valued VIP club members get the first opportunity to purchase new releases and have exclusive access until we make them available to everyone. Our 2019 Block 8.1 Norton is now available on tastings and by the bottle in the tasting room! This special wine has been aging gracefully in the cellar and is ready for your glass!
Don't forget about all the other products that we offer when you visit the Ag District Center! Our kitchen works hard to bring you delicious pizzas, sandwiches, salads, and more featuring Locksley Farmstead cheeses. Check out the weekly specials when you arrive and plan your lunch or dinner around your visit! You can also shop our farm market to pick up cheese, beef, chicken, pork, and eggs to take home and enjoy!
See you in the tasting room!
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD AND WINERY
Veraison marks one of the most dramatic and meaningful transitions in a grapevine’s yearly cycle. It’s the moment when berries shift from hard, green, and acidic to soft, colored, and sugar accumulating. In French, véraison means “the onset of ripening,” and that’s exactly what it signals: the vine is redirecting its energy from growth to fruit maturity.
During veraison, several changes unfold at once. The berries soften as cell walls loosen, chlorophyll breaks down, and pigments develop—anthocyanins in red grapes and carotenoids in white varieties. Sugar levels begin to rise rapidly, while acids decline, setting the stage for the balance winemakers rely on at harvest. It’s also a period when vineyard crews often adjust canopy management, irrigation, and crop load to guide the fruit toward optimal ripeness.
For Norton, America’s oldest native wine grape, veraison can be especially striking. Norton often enters veraison later than many Vitis vinifera varieties, and its color change is bold—berries shift quickly to a deep, inky purple that hints at the grape’s famously intense pigmentation. Because Norton is naturally high in acidity and tannin, the timing and progression of veraison play a major role in shaping its final flavor profile. A well managed veraison period helps balance Norton’s robust structure with the lush dark fruit character that makes it so distinctive.
To growers and winemakers, veraison is more than a visual milestone—it’s a strategic one. It marks the beginning of the countdown to harvest, the point when decisions about crop thinning, disease management, and water use have their greatest impact. For wine lovers, it’s a reminder that every bottle begins with a season of careful observation and timing.
Veraison is the vine’s quiet announcement that the fruit is ready to become wine, and for varieties like Norton, it’s the moment when their unique personality truly begins to show.
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY
August is a vibrant, transitional month for farmstead cheesemakers—a moment when summer’s intensity meets the first hints of autumn’s approach. Farmstead cheese, made exclusively from milk produced on the same farm where it’s crafted, reflects these seasonal shifts more clearly than any other style. By August, cows have spent months on lush pasture, and that diet shows up unmistakably in the milk: high butterfat, rich proteins, and deeply aromatic compounds shaped by warm weather grasses, clover, chicory, and wild herbs. Cheesemakers often describe August milk as “full,” “sweet,” or “grassy,” and it’s prized for producing supple, flavorful cheeses with exceptional depth.
This is also the month when many farmstead operations hit their production stride. Fresh cheeses like our Friar Tuck shine in August because the milk is at its most expressive. Semi‑soft cheeses like our Maid Marian Camembert develop beautifully during this period, gaining complexity without losing the brightness of summer milk. Even long‑aged cheeses begin their journey now: wheels of Nottingham Gouda and truckles of Little John Cheddar made in August often mature into standout holiday cheeses, carrying the memory of peak pasture into winter.
Stop by The Ag District to explore all of our delicious farmstead cheeses!
Hello, everyone. I hope y’all are having a fun summer. Hot… but it’s been really pretty in the countryside.
I have an unusual image for this August Note from Jenni. Teri and I were talking about what I might write about, seeing as I’ve done more than twenty August Notes from Jenni over the years!, and I realized it’s the summer of 2026 (hey, what a concept, huh. Duh!). But it brought to mind the fact that the name Chrysalis Vineyards has been on wine labels now for 30 years (well, maybe the label itself hasn’t been on a bottle for exactly 30 years, but the fruit was harvested 30 years ago this year… and it was a New York Chardonnay from Standing Stone Vineyards (yeah, Finger Lakes). This fruit became the 1996 Alan Kinne Chardonnay. (And yes, I got my… hmm.. blah blah in the wringer right off the bat with the Virginia ABC, because how on earth could a Virginia Farm Winery release a wine with New York on the label. But that’s another story. (And, indeed, it’s true… I do have a LOT of stories).
Anyway, my daughter and her recently espoused husband, Ryan, have landed and are on their way here from Cali.
I’d like to tell you some more, but I have to sign off, but before I go, I just want to say that I know you have a lot choices about where you can spend some recreational time, and it’s not lost on us that you spend some of those precious hours here at The Ag District.
Thank you, and 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