August 2020
A SAFE HARBOR
Greetings! We hope this finds you doing well and staying committed to living your best life. We are dedicated to providing you with a slice of pleasure and a safe harbor on your daily journey.

We are open with ample outdoor seating in the shade with cooling mountain breezes. The breezes at our elevation make even the hottest day an afterthought as you take in the sights, smells and sounds while tasting the award winning Element 79 wines.

When you come to enjoy the Element 79 experience, you will also discover that our seated wine tasting has been enhanced. You now have an exciting new "pick your flight" menu. This allows you to customize your flight from a list of wines currently available.

We encourage you to make a reservation. Walk-ins are welcome, but please understand that those with reservations have seating priority. We will always do our best to accommodate you.
If you have been in our tasting room you know that we have sparkling wines on tap. This has always been very popular and often you have wanted to take some home. You now have the option of taking it with you and enjoying it later without concern that it will lose it's carbonation. We have invested in an Oktober can seamer allowing us to fill a 500 ml Crowler of sparkling wine, seam it on the spot, keeping it fresh and carbonated. Perfect for picnics, boating, camping and other outdoor activities.

We currently have our Sparkling Chardonnay and Sparkling Viognier on tap.

You can even order it on line and we will ship it to you or have it ready for you to pick up.
In The Vineyard
While we have been dealing with the craziness in our Homo sapien world, the vines have been thriving and happy. Veraison was first noticed in the Petite Sirah around July 18th and has progressed to about 80% today. The Cabernet Sauvignon is at about 30% while the Syrah and Zinfandel are about 15%. This means that harvest will be starting soon. As a rule of thumb harvest is typically around 6 weeks after start of veraison. The Viognier we pick for our sparkling program will be the first to harvest in just a couple weeks.

The vineyard is in great condition thanks to our vineyard crew Bacho, Antelma and Jesus. We are in the process of dropping grape clusters right now. I know it breaks your heart to see all those grape clusters on the ground. This is an expensive practice both in labor and lost fruit. We do it because it allows the plant to give all of its fruit producing energy to remaining grape clusters leading to more concentration which in turn makes a better quality wine for your enjoyment.

Watch our social media for updates on harvest and crush. Exciting times!
Cellar Update
Soon we will be bottling our 2018 reds. These reds have been aging in barrel for 23 months and are ready to finish their maturation process in bottle for a couple years. They are amazing and the adjectives balanced, smooth and decadent, apply to them all. The 2018s about to be bottled are the Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Zinfandel and Alloy. Prior to bottling we will blend the Zin (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%), Syrah (20%) and Petite Sirah (10%) for the Alloy blend. Sharon and I along with our winemaker Scott Johnson and his wife Emily determined the percentages for this blend during a recent tasting trial session. It is a tough job but someone has to do it. This is a time when spitting is probably a good idea. Listen to my advice but don't watch me too closely. We are excited for the future when we release them and are able to start sharing these wines with you.

The 2018 white wines and Rare Earth have been released and sold out long ago. Our 2019 Abby's Rose, Chardonnay and Viognier are currently available and selling fast.

During one of our virtual tasting events we introduced "Inside Out". This is our fun and playful Beaujolais style "Carbonic Maceration" Zinfandel. This has been such a fun wine to offer. We bottled this in March and released it early May during the COVID shutdown. If you haven't had a chance to try this easy drinking wine we encourage you get it now. There are only 10 cases left and it is going fast.

On May 21st we canned "Color", our new canned wine brand. This first release under our Color brand is a sparkling rose. It was recently written up in the Sacramento Business Journal. Click here to read the article. It is a big hit and perfect for summer. It too will go fast. It is available through Element 79 Vineyards website and tasting room and currently the following establishments:

Important Dates
Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates and watch our social media for announcements of additional food and wine events.

August 21st - Dine In The Vines - Sold Out
September 12th - September Club Release Pick Up Party Day 1
September 13th - September Club Release Pick Up Party Day 2
September 18th - Dine In The Vines
October 16th - Dine In The Vines
Plan A Staycation
A staycation may be just what you need to recharge and refresh until the time when your world travels are once again possible or more appealing. A wine country getaway is just the ticket to cure your travel and exploration bug.

Let us help you plan a wine country getaway to Fair Play. We will book your stay at Element House Cottage and even help you plan your wine tasting visits, dinners, hikes, sight seeing and other outdoor activities.

Just give us a call and let our knowledgeable staff help you with your plans.

You can learn more about Element House Cottage by clicking the link below.
Check Out Our YouTube Channel
Below is the link to our YouTube channel.
This video was published by our good friend Christian Forte. If you are interested in having Christian do a video for you let us know and we will put you in contact with him.
An Investment In Pleasure
We invite you to check out the new Element 79 Vineyards video. Simply click the play icon to the left.

A visit to Element 79 Vineyards is an investment (albeit a small one) in pleasure. If you want to have access to more of the special offerings from Element 79 Vineyards we invite you to join our Club 79.
Thank you for your continued support. Because of you, we are doing fine and will continue to be able to bring you great wine and pleasurable experiences well into the future.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Until then enjoy the rest of your summer and live your best life!

Cheers,
Sharon, Les, Nicole, Miranda and Adreanna