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Wonderwerk Co.

Free Your Mind 2019

Price: $24.95
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Tasting notes

This wine does something genuinely unusual: carbonic Carignan from 130-year-old own-rooted vines on sand is pumped over fermenting Riesling skins, giving you tart strawberry and cranberry brightness with a savory mineral edge and a faint sparkle. It drinks like nothing else in California.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Taste profile
StrawberryCranberryWild StrawberryRocks
  • Style: Chillable, light-bodied red-orange hybrid; light ruby-pink; tart strawberry, cranberry, citrus; slight effervescence; low tannin; high acidity
  • Grapes & Terroir: 50% Carignan, Sandy Lane Vineyard, Contra Costa County AVA, Antioch — own-rooted c.1888 vines, Delhi sandy loam, dry-farmed, sustainable; 50% Riesling, Zabala Vineyard, Arroyo Seco AVA, Soledad — alluvial river-stone soils, organic-certified 2010, Lodi Rules sustainable
  • Winemaking: Carignan: whole-cluster carbonic maceration 2 weeks; Riesling: de-stemmed, 7-day skin fermentation with twice-daily pump-overs; cuvees integrated via pump-over over one week; pressed to stainless steel; malolactic fermentation; unfined, unfiltered; 30 ppm KMBS at bottling
  • Serving: Serve well chilled at 46-52F; no decanting needed
  • Pairing: Charcuterie, grilled chicken, tomato salad, spiced dishes, salty cheeses
  • Similar To: For fans of light Gamay, carbonic Beaujolais, or skin-contact whites who want something that crosses both categories

Free Your Mind is a co-fermentation of 50% old-vine Carignan from Sandy Lane Vineyard (Contra Costa County AVA, Antioch) and 50% Riesling from Zabala Vineyard (Arroyo Seco AVA, Soledad). The Carignan, harvested August 18 at 20.6° Brix, underwent two weeks of whole-cluster carbonic maceration before being pressed to tank and fermented nearly dry. The Riesling, harvested September 3 at 20.4° Brix, was de-stemmed and fermented on its skins with twice-daily pump-overs.

At approximately one-third Brix depletion, those Riesling pump-overs were replaced by pressed carbonic Carignan. The two cuvees were integrated over the course of one week, then pressed together to stainless steel where the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. The result is a skin-fermented Riesling core with layered extraction — first in a low-alcohol water matrix, then in a mid-ferment alcohol matrix — that pulls color, tannin, and aromatic complexity from both varieties simultaneously.

Sandy Lane Vineyard is farmed sustainably by the Gonsalves family. The Carignan vines, planted around 1888 and own-rooted, grow in Delhi sandy loam and are dry-farmed and head-trained. Zabala Vineyard sits in the dry riverbed of Arroyo Seco on alluvial soils with round river stones; it was certified organic in 2010 by the Monterey County Certified Organic Program and CDFA, and holds Lodi Rules certification. The wine is unfined and unfiltered, with 30 ppm KMBS added at bottling.

The wine shows a light ruby-pink hue with slight effervescence. Expect tart strawberry, cranberry, and citrus-driven acidity from the Riesling, with the carbonic Carignan lending soft red fruit and a savory, sandy mineral note. Serve well chilled.

Serve well chilled with charcuterie, grilled chicken with herbs, or a simple tomato salad with good olive oil. The wine's high acidity and low tannin make it a reliable match for fatty, salty, or acidic foods. It also works alongside spiced dishes where a heavier red would compete.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Carignan, Riesling
Farming:, Sustainable
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:,
Country:, United States
Region:, Contra Costa County
Appellation:, Contra Costa County AVA / Arroyo Seco AVA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Wonderwerk Co.

Wonderwerk Co. is a Los Angeles-based natural wine project founded by Issamu Kamide and Andrew Lardy, two friends who met in high school in Virginia and later relocated to California. Andrew Lardy pursued a graduate degree in neuropsychology before switching to winemaking, enrolled in the Fresno State Enology program, and gained production experience at Central Coast wineries. He currently serves as Head Distiller at Spirit Guild Distillery in downtown Los Angeles. Issamu Kamide studied brand management, earned a WSET Level 3 certification, and works in marketing and product innovation for a kombucha brand. Both run Wonderwerk while holding full-time fermentation-industry roles.

Wonderwerk produces wine at the Atelier des Savants Fous custom crush facility in Gilroy, California. They source fruit from vineyards across the state, prioritizing sites that use organic practices or are pursuing certification. The winery name comes from Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, believed to contain the earliest evidence of human cooking — a reference to the idea of manipulating nature for pleasure as much as sustenance.

Wonderwerk specializes in low-intervention, high-concept winemaking: co-fermentations, piquette production, and botanical infusions. All wines are made without fining or filtration. Free Your Mind is their flagship co-ferment, built around a specific two-stage extraction technique that sequences Riesling skin contact through both a low-alcohol and a high-alcohol matrix by introducing pressed carbonic Carignan at mid-fermentation.

Wine region

Contra Costa County, United States

Contra Costa County sits east of San Francisco Bay in the Sacramento River Delta. Sandy Lane Vineyard, located in Antioch, is one of the county's most historically significant sites: vines planted around 1888 grow in Delhi sandy loam — a deep, free-draining soil that looks more like beach sand than vineyard dirt. The own-rooted, head-trained, dry-farmed Carignan vines here have never been grafted onto resistant rootstock, an extreme rarity worldwide. Afternoon winds off the Sacramento River Delta moderate summer heat, helping the fruit retain acidity despite warm growing conditions.

The Riesling component comes from Zabala Vineyard in the Arroyo Seco AVA, Monterey County, near Soledad. The vineyard occupies an old river bed with alluvial soils and pale round river stones. The Arroyo Seco AVA is famously cool and windy, with Pacific air funneling through the Santa Lucia mountain gorge each evening, slowing sugar accumulation and preserving high natural acidity in the fruit. Zabala Vineyard was certified organic in 2010 by the Monterey County Certified Organic Program (MCCO) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and holds Lodi Rules sustainable certification.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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