What exactly are these cheeses doing just sitting there on the shelf? You may have been out to the Ag District a week, a month or two months ago and noticed that cheese hasn’t moved at all! Hard cheeses like our Little John Cheddar and Nottingham Gouda must age 6-8 months or more to develop the flavors and sharpness we all love.

Spring is finally here and the weather is getting warmer! And as the cold weather has slowly been subsiding, we’ve been hard at work creating a better pizza. The dough recipe has been evolving into what it is today. With the addition of honey and olive oil in the recipe, we’ve achieved a dough that’s close to a New York style.

Spring in Virginia is really something to behold. I have decided to make a list of a few things I love about it!

Spring is blending season and April will see us assembling the 2017 Norton Estate and 2017 Norton Locksley Reserve blends. Chrysalis grows Nebbiolo, Tannat, and Petit Verdot to provide tannic blending components for these wines. But blending can involve a lot more than deciding on the ratios of these components.

April Showers Bring May Flowers... and spring bursting all around us. It is the perfect time to get out and enjoy some wine tasting! Some of our guests ask if there is a right way to taste wine. The answer is No! However you enjoy wine tasting is the “right” way. This month we are sharing some hints to help you gain the most enjoyment and knowledge from wine tasting with us. Please be sure to ask any of our knowledgeable tasting room associatess for more helpful hints or perhaps share some of yours with us!

Productivity levels and spirits are high in the kitchen and bake house! We now have an increased number of menu offerings as well as weekend specials that are constantly changing, allowing us the opportunity to be creative.

We’ve cut the cheese! Those tall, black wax enrobed truckles that have been aging in the creamery window since late August are finally ready to crack into! While still at a young age of 6 months, Little John is rich, creamy and developing a nice sharpness. Our Little John Cheddar has been released and is available to purchase by the wedge at the Ag District Center.

Spring cleaning is well underway, we’re taking the cellar apart and putting it back together again. Every piece of equipment is getting scrubbed and reevaluated for its role in the winemaking process. Every wine is getting a panel of chemical analyses performed. Indispensable in this role is the use of our spectrophotometer.

This short story, written by Baxter Black, is for some cowboy comic relief while we power through the last of this muddy winter!