Wonderwerk - 'Free Your Mind' - Carignan, Riesling - California, USA - 2022

Notes from the Winery/Importer

2022 Free Your Mind

50% Carignan
Sandy Lane Vineyard (Contra Costa County AVA / Antioch, CA)

50% Riesling
Zabala Vineyard (Arroyo Seco AVA / Soledad, CA)

1,980 cases produced
12.0% Alc. by Vol.

Co-fermentation: The idea is to be more than the sum of the parts. At its core, Free Your Mind is an aromatic orange wine: a skin-fermented Riesling. When the Riesling is mid-way through fermentation, pressed carbonic Carignan is gradually blended in via daily pump-overs. Our goal is to conduct a layered extraction of Riesling skins in two phases:

A water matrix (low alcohol) extraction – Riesling on skins (<6% abv), no Carignan
An alcohol matrix extraction – Riesling on skins (>6% abv) with daily incorporation of pressed carbonic Carignan (~12% abv)
Once the Carignan is completely married into the Riesling and the wine is pressed off of the Riesling skins, the resulting structure is a chillable red wine with novel complexity.

Free Your Mind is an extraordinary chillable red; a co-fermentation of carbonic old vine Carignan and skin-fermented Riesling
Winemaking
Carignan was picked at 21.3° Brix on August 15. The fruit enjoyed a couple weeks longer hang time and cooler temperatures at harvest than last vintage. Riesling was picked at 21.7° Brix on September 14. It was another cool growing season in the Arroyo Seco AVA (Riesling) with impressive acidity. Riesling was de-stemmed and fermented on skins with twice daily pump-overs. At 1/2 Brix depletion, Riesling pump-overs were replaced with Carignan pump-overs (from another tank). Once the two cuvees were fully blended and fermented to dryness (14 day maceration), the lot was pressed to a stainless steel tank, where it underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged on lees. This wine was produced without fining or filtration, with 20 ppm sulfur (KMBS) added at bottling.

Sandy Lane Vineyard
Located in Antioch, CA, between Mt. Diablo and the Sacramento River Delta. Gary Gonsalves farms a few acres of 120–140 year old head-trained vines adjacent to famed Evangelo Vineyard. The vineyard is interplanted to Carignan, Mataro, and Zinfandel. These muscular own-rooted vines strike an iconic silhouette atop 40 feet of pure sand soil and scattered PG&E electrical towers placed under eminent domain. Rugged, scaly, hot, and impossibly sandy – this is a bonafide California terroir.

Zabala Vineyard
Luis Zabala, a 10th generation California farmer (!), tends to over 1,000 acres of Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, and Syrah first planted in the 1970s in the dry riverbed of Arroyo Seco (Monterey County). The vineyard is famously windy and cool, which helps retain acidity and temper sugar accumulation. Alluvial soils are heavily studded with all sizes of round river stones.

Farming Practices
Sandy Lane Vineyard: With over 100 years of practice, these vines know how to do their job without much help. Sulfur dust is applied regularly to address mildew pressure. Deficit irrigation is maintained with overhead sprinklers when needed under extreme drought pressure. Deep, pure sand precludes the need for a weed management program. No pre-emergent herbicides or insecticides are used.

Zabala Vineyard: Is a Lodi Rules certified sustainable vineyard that was certified organic in 2010 by the Monterey County Certified Organic Program (MCCO) and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

Notes on the Producer

Wonderwerk: House of Fermentation
is Issamu Kamide and Andrew Lardy, two high school friends from Virginia seeking new directions in fermentation. Since our inception we’ve worked with amazing farmers and vineyards from all over California to make wines that everyone can wavelength with. We produce and bottle with our own hands and feet. Every bottle begins as a concept - a look, a feel, an occasion, a vibe - that range from low-intervention to high-innovation production methods in the cellar. Wonderwerk began as a long night on a disco dancefloor finally wound down and we didn’t want the party to end. Now, it’s flowed from there into the wines you see and drink today. Come along for the ride, bring your dancing shoes and an open mind, we promise we won’t disappoint.