Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Gates.
Hi Whitney, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
WONDRY was born surprisingly when I was a little girl & far too young to drink. Around the age of 10, I began visiting my late Uncle LC who was paralyzed from the waist down but stood tall as the beacon of his Nashville community.
He was a master of all trades – barbequing, baking, conversating… but most of all homemade winemaking. I would watch in awe as he rolled his way through his garage using the oddest of tools to turn the most interesting foods into wine.
With just a nylon glove & gallon jug, he would transform fruits like peaches, grapes, & pears – & even corn on the cob – into this refreshing-looking “happy juice”.
Although I was forbidden from indulging at the time, my family & our community drank this wine like it was water. It was a conversation starter but most importantly, a unifier, that brought people together for carefree moments of enjoyment & escape.
8 years ago, as an adult of Legal drinking age, I craved to recreate those moments.
So, just like my Uncle LC, I began toiling around my kitchen. I combined a range of fruits with yeast & after a few failed attempts stumbled upon something shockingly delicious – a semi-sweet, fruit-forward wine with a noticeable alcohol kick.
Nothing like this & no one who looked like me existed in the mainstream wine industry. A stifling reality that kept me from further pursuing winemaking until 2017.
One evening in 2017 I had a couple of drinks & an aha moment. Memories of my Uncle LC floated in my mind & collided with newfound observation: the wine industry is so pretentious & exclusive.
For ages, wine drinkers with non-traditional tastes have largely gone unnoticed. Many people like myself have felt intimidated, overlooked, & excluded from the premium wine experience…yet no one seems to care.
It was when I recognized this tension, WONDRY Wine Co. was re-born.
With WONDRY we intend to disrupt traditional wine thinking. From our uniquely designed bottles to our organic fruit infusions to our heightened alcohol content, we exist to re-imagine the wine experience.
We don’t just sell wine – we sell an immersive escape that engages all senses & unifies all wine drinkers alike.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In launching WONDRY my husband & I experienced our fair share of challenges. As new vintners, there was so much we didn’t know about the commercial wine industry. Permitting, federal regulations, fermentation trouble-shooting, equipment requirements, labeling…there is SO much that goes into launching a successful winery. Luckily, we partnered with industry experts to provide guidance throughout our journey.
Now honestly, our biggest challenge has been keeping up with demand – particularly after just 4 months of being in business & gaining distribution in Target & Total Wine stores across Dallas / Ft. Worth. It’s all such an incredible blessing but as I mentioned, Chaz & I personally produce, bottle & locally distribute every single bottle of WONDRY Wine. So, keeping up from a production standpoint, while raising & loving on our newborn son & maintaining our full-time corporate careers presents quite the day-to-day challenge!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
WONDRY is an international award-winning, fruit-infused wine & sangria collection with heightened alcohol content. Our fruit-forward, semi-sweet wines infuse organic berry, citrus & exotic fruit extracts for a more satisfying wine experience.
We separate ourselves by not selling wine. We sell an immersive beverage escape that engages all of your senses. From our uniquely designed bottles to our organic fruit infusions to our heightened alcohol content, we exist to re-imagine the wine experience. We fully intend to disrupt conventional wine thinking, so we differentiate by doing the exact opposite of our competition & cueing in on the unique needs of consumers who have been overlooked by the traditional wine industry.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
As a girl born & raised in Nashville, TN, I love Dallas because it’s a cosmopolitan city wrapped in Southern charm. The unique neighborhoods, diverse & caring people, cultural experiences, & amazing food/nightlife scene ensure Dallas offers something for everyone. The city is truly one-of-a-kind!
What I like least about this city…the temperamental weather. One day it’s 90 degrees & the next, it’s below zero, you’re covered in ice with no power for a week!
Pricing:
- All of our wines are available in Target stores across the city for $17.99!
Contact Info:
- Website: wondrywine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wondrywine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wondrywine
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