OCTOBER NEWSLETTER 2024
IN THIS NEWSLETTER...
VIP Wines of the Month
Report from the Tasting Room
Report from the Cellar
Report from the Vineyard
Report from Locksley Farmstead Cheese
Note from Jenni
It’s Virginia Wine Month—the perfect time to celebrate all that VA Wine has to offer! Naturally, we can’t miss the opportunity to honor Virginia's native gem, Norton! As you've seen on our social media and from our fellow wineries, we are thrilled to participate in the Norton Wine Tour 2024.
Wineries have been grouped into four clusters, each allocated a weekend throughout the month-long tour from October 18th to November 10th. We are excited to be part of the first of two Northern Virginia clusters, with our celebrations taking place from October 18th to 20th.
To discover more about the activities Chrysalis will be offering during our weekend-long Norton celebration, check out our event listings below!
OCTOBER MUSIC LINEUP:
October 5th - Patty Reese - 2-5 PM
October 6th- Robbie Límon - 2-5 PM
October 19th - Anthony Semiao - 2-5 PM
October 26th - Luke Andrews - 2-5 PM
October Events:
October 19th @ 6PM - Flagship Wine Dinner ft. Norton (For Adults 21+ ONLY)
Join us for a memorable evening at Chrysalis Vineyards for our Flagship Wine Dinner featuring none other than the Norton Grape! Enjoy an appetizer and 4-course meal paired perfectly with our finest Norton wines.
Ticket Options:
Wine & Dine Ticket: Includes dinner and wine pairings.
Just Here to Dine Ticket: Includes dinner only.
CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase your ticket(s) today.
October 19th from 11AM - 4PM (Tours Hourly) - U-Pick Norton Day & Winery Tour
Celebrate the harvest season at Chrysalis Vineyards on Saturday, October 19th (rain date: October 20th)! During our first-ever Norton U-Pick Day, enjoy a hands-on experience with a light harvest, winery tours, and wine tasting of wines in various stages of production.
Tickets:
25lb U-Pick & Winery Tour Ticket: Includes admission, hayride, up to 25 lbs of Norton grapes to harvest, and a wine tasting.
U-Pick Norton - Child/Young Adult Ticket: Admission for those under 21, includes hayride and the opportunity to assist with harvesting.
CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase your ticket(s) today.
October 24th @ 5PM - Book Club (For Adults 21+ ONLY)
Join us at Chrysalis Vineyards on Thursday, October 24th, from 5 - 6 PM for Book Club! This gathering will occur every month and is completely free to attend. No need to worry if you haven’t read the book yet! Join us for the discussion and stay tuned for the announcement of our next book selection so you can dive in and be part of the fun.
Interested in attending? Email Jill.Smedley@TheAgDistrict.com.
NOTE TO OUR VIP CLUB MEMBERS
This month, we’re inviting our club members to join us for a Virginia Wine Month Celebration during the VIP Club pick-up party on Friday, October 11th. During this event we will be tasting through our Flagship wine offerings and challenging your knowledge of Virginia wine. Members must RSVP no later than October 8th by emailing TR-Manager@ChrysalisWine.com. Please include your name, number attending (up to 2 per membership), and preferred time (5:00 PM or 6:30 PM). 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 October, our VIP Club members will be treated a special wine package showcasing our favorite native grape, Norton! Enjoy our 2022 Sarah's Patio Red as the 'white' selection for this month. This delightfully bright expression of Norton has aromas of cherries and raspberries with notes of wild blackberries and ripe cherries on the palate. This wine is best served chilled and enjoyed casually with friends and family during a warm day or a family gathering.
The red wine selection for our VIP Club members this month is the 2020 Locksley Reserve Norton. This flagship wine is a great wine to kick off fall, with its aromas of sage, tobacco, and black currant and notes of dark fruit, spices, and black pepper. It pairs perfectly with a nice fire and good conversation.
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.
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
October has arrived, bringing with it the crisp air and the vibrant hues of the Fall season. Each day, the trees begin to transition more into the stunning shades of red, orange, and gold, surrounding us with nature’s breathtaking beauty.
In addition to the natural splendor, October marks Virginia Wine Month—the perfect time to celebrate the exceptional wines of our region. We’re thrilled to announce the release of the 40th Anniversary Collaboration Wine on October 3rd. This special blend commemorates 40 years of Loudoun’s rich winemaking history, crafted in collaboration with 11 other local wineries. It’s a celebration of Loudoun wine, renowned for its unique terroir and depth of flavor, and a tribute to the region’s proud agricultural heritage.
Join us at Chrysalis Vineyards to celebrate Virginia Wine Month with a bottle of Loudoun's 40th Anniversary Red. Relax on our scenic lawn, surrounded by the colors of Fall, and enjoy a great bottle of wine alongside our mouthwatering food offerings.
- Lori Tate, Tasting Room Manager
REPORT FROM THE VINEYARD
It’s safe to say that the drought has ended. In fact, it’s border line flooding around here. Many of you know, that a little bit of rain doesn’t scare me or Norton. It’s an oddity though to get a constant deluge for a couple of weeks during harvest. That said, we are letting the fruit hang a bit longer to allow it to at least dry off a bit before picking.
Despite the rain, the fruit continues to look good and honestly, we needed it. The juice yields have been a bit low in the beginning of harvest due to the lack of rain. If you remember last month, I mentioned that due to the drought, sugars were quite high but so were the acids.
Now that we’ve received a fair amount of rain, the chemistry is starting to return to normal. The vines are taking up the water and the acids are starting to drop. In fact, the fruit is slightly swelling from the extra moisture. This will help with the low juice yields, allowing us to make more of your favorite wines!
Rain during harvest is every winemaker’s nightmare but when you are working with Norton all you have to do is wait. Norton was designed for Virginia and that includes the rainy days.
- Jake Blodinger, Winemaker
REPORT FROM THE CELLAR
Harvest is in full swing, and though this year has been a bit unusual, we're thrilled about the quality of this vintage’s wines. While harvest keeps us busy, there's even more to look forward to beyond the vineyard. If you've been following our social media and events pages, you’ve probably noticed—we have some incredible events coming up this October!
I’ve been alluding to exciting stuff all year and Jill has finally given me the okay to talk about the exciting things planned for this month. We have briefly talked about how Chrysalis, along with 21 other wineries and vineyards, will be hosting the first ever month-long Norton Wine Tour this year. Well, throughout this exciting month, each winery will host unique events, dedicated days, or even special weekends to showcase the rich and diverse flavors of Norton wines. So, in celebration of our Norton Wine Weekend (October 18th - 20th), we will be hosting a Flagship Wine Dinner featuring Norton on October 18th at the tasting room, our first-ever U-Pick Norton Day on October 19th here at the winery, and “Once and Future” tastings at the tasting room on the 19th & 20th.
During our wine dinner, you will have the opportunity to explore a few of the diverse expressions of Norton paired with an appetizer and 4-course meal. Then on October 19th, visit us in the vineyard for an immersive Norton U-Pick Day. You’ll have the opportunity to take a tractor ride out to one of our Norton blocks where you can pick your very own grapes! Yes, they’re yours to keep, make jelly, make wine, or just enjoy them right off the cluster.
Once you’ve picked your grapes, you’ll ride the tractor back to the winery for a tour of the cellar. During the cellar tour, you will get to taste various wines throughout the winemaking practice. This will include everything from juice to fermentation to aged wine. You may even get the opportunity to taste some special projects, experiments, and best kept secrets.
Keep the fun going by heading to the tasting room where we will be featuring a special Norton “Once and Future” tasting (October 19th & 20th). For this specialty tasting, you will get to taste a library wine, two Norton wines that are currently available, and a Norton wine that will be released sometime in the future. It is our hope that this tasting will enhance your appreciation of Norton wine and reveal how it evolves over the years.
Chrysalis Vineyards has been a proud grower of Norton for over 25 years and we’ve been sharing that with you every time you open a bottle of our wine, but now it’s time to share it with friends and family. Bring them out for what will surely be an exciting weekend.
- Jake Blodinger, Winemaker
REPORT FROM LOCKSLEY FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY
Why would you want to make cheese that contains mold? Well, because it’s delicious! Our King Richard blue cheese is a Gorgonzola style of blue, somewhat creamier and milder than other styles. The veins of blue-green mold that are visible when the cheese is sliced are the result of introducing penicillium roqueforti mold into the milk as cheese curds are produced. As the cheese is exposed to oxygen during aging, the mold continues to develop and turn color. To aid the spread of the mold throughout the cheese, the wheels are punctured to increase the oxygen exposure. These blue veins produce the pungent flavors associated with blue cheeses.
Archeological evidence shows that some form of blue cheese may have been consumed in Austria as early as 800 – 400 BC. Legend has it that a young boy left bread and cheese that was in his lunch in a cave and went off to pursue a young lady. When he returned to the cave months later the bread and cheese had molded. Being a hungry young boy, he decided to eat it anyway and discovered a delicious new type of cheese. While that story may not be completely accurate it is likely that blue cheese was discovered accidentally when cheese that was stored in a cave molded.
Our King Richard blue cheese is creamy with fruity notes on the palate. Its mildly pungent blue flavor offers a perfect introduction to blue cheese. As a delicious after dinner treat try our King Richard blue with Chrysalis Vineyards Petit Manseng. The sweet honey notes of the wine pair perfectly and balance the bolder flavors of the cheese.
- Teri Scott, General Manager
Norton is in the air! Norton tips off the tongue all the time by practically everyone around here. And I’m hearing about Norton more and more from folks not from around here. Of course, Jack and Jill (no, never mind… his name is Jake, not Jack! :-) have been tirelessly planning and promoting (in between their winemaking and telling the world about us duties) all sorts of Norton-focused special events and offers, like the U-Pick Norton Day & Winery Tour and the Flagship Wine Dinner (can you guess what grape’s being featured?). It’s exciting!
And it’s especially exciting for me. I’ve spent over of third of my life so far planning, preparing, planting and building a business focused on Virginia’s incredible native gem, Norton. And ya’ know what?... I’m more excited now than ever to be growing the Norton grape and making world-class, fine wines from it.
Thinking about my Note from Jenni, I thought a good plan might be something like, Jenni’s 3-Minute History of the Norton Grape, to try telling the story of Norton in a short read. Then I remembered when we hosted a couple of young videographers some years back who wanted to submit a video to the Wine Spectator International Video Contest. They had become captivated by the Norton grape and its history. Well, we did it… and they WON! We all went up to Wine Spectator's New York Wine Experience and had a blast!
Here’s the video: Norton, the Other American Grape
It’s fun to watch, and I think educational, too. I’m sure you’ll enjoy taking a couple minutes to watch it.
Oh… I almost forget to tell you that two weeks ago, Jake and I went to Richmond to attend the annual award ceremony of the Virginia Restaurant Lodging Travel Association, where Chrysalis Vineyards was awarded the “2024 Winery of the Year” award. Cool, huh?
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