Two high school friends from Virginia asked what a wine that tasted like a James Murphy disco set might be, then moved to California to find out. The answer is Wonderwerk.
Backstory
Wonderwerk is the project of Issamu Kamide and Andrew Lardy, lifelong friends from Virginia who relocated to California. The label was born after the pair attended "Despacio," the roving sound system created by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, and asked how they could make a wine that captured that feeling; their first release was the Discovino Donna Rose. The name nods to South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave, site of one of the earliest known controlled fires, a reference to humans shaping nature for enjoyment as well as survival. That mix of curiosity and good times runs through everything the pair release.
The Region
Based in Gilroy, California, Wonderwerk sources from vineyards across the state, including Contra Costa County, Arroyo Seco, Clarksburg, San Benito, and Lodi, favoring growers who farm organically or sustainably. The two founders bring complementary backgrounds: Lardy studied neuropsychology before moving into enology at Fresno State and working at Central Coast wineries, and now also works as a distiller, while Kamide spent time in brand management and consumer food and beverage and holds a WSET 3 certification.
Vineyards & Farming
Rather than owning estate vineyards, Wonderwerk partners with farmers across California's varied appellations, which lets the team chase specific sites and grapes each vintage. The varieties span an unusually eclectic mix, including Riesling, Carignan, Petite Sirah, and Mission, alongside Italian and Spanish grapes such as Freisa and Vermentino, often from older or dry-farmed plantings that suit a fresher, lower-extraction style.
Winemaking
The approach is low-intervention but playful, built on co-ferments, field blends, and piquette-style drinks. Fermentations are spontaneous, aging happens in neutral barrels, and the wines see no fining or filtration with only minimal sulfur at bottling. The stated goal is wine that begins as a feeling, a setting, or a concept and is built to be shared, an ethos echoed in the name's nod to Wonderwerk Cave and one of humanity's earliest controlled fires.
The Wines
The portfolio is broad and easy-drinking: still wines such as Free Your Mind and Free Your Soul, skin-contact orange wines like Free Your Body and Big Orange, pet-nats including Giorgio and Enzo, and the lower-alcohol Lite Werk line, along with collaboration bottlings. Bright, colorful labels by collaborating artists carry the brand's motto: always natural, never boring. The wines are pitched squarely at a younger generation of drinkers who want something low-intervention but genuinely fun in the glass.
