Sonoma winemaker goes ‘Extradimensional’ with new tasting room and blend lineup

The first time I heard the name Hardy Wallace was in 2009. Wallace and I had just been named two of the top 50 candidates for A Really Goode Job, Murphy-Goode winery’s viral search for a wine-obsessed social media expert to promote the brand online, a role they called “a wine country lifestyle correspondent.”

I didn’t make it past the third round. But Wallace, with his colorful, silly, engaging personality was a shoo-in from the start, eventually beating out 2000 other candidates to clinch the gig.

Nearly 14 years later, as he and his wife, Kate Graham, prepare to open Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! — their brand-new tasting room in the Sonoma Plaza — it’s hard to imagine Wallace as one of the world’s first social media influencers.

While his infectious energy and authenticity remain, Wallace’s role as an influencer shifted dramatically in 2010 when he embraced winemaking, a move that eventually led him to create one of California’s most innovative wine labels, Dirty & Rowdy Wine Co.

With a primary focus on the multiple personalities of single-vineyard mourvèdre and skin-contact sémillon, Dirty & Rowdy gained a cultlike following that surprised even Wallace, especially when the sommelier from Spain’s three-Michelin star restaurant El Celler de Can Roca showed up at his house and asked to try his wine.

In 2021, Dirty & Rowdy dissolved when Wallace and former business partner Matt Richardson decided to part ways. For the first time in 12 years, Wallace took a step back and assessed his winemaking future.

“Kate and I took some time to regroup and ask ourselves what really excites us and what would make sense for a new wine brand,” said Wallace. “One of the things we kept talking about was weather and climate change. Some of the vineyards we’d worked with were struggling to ripen while others were ripening so fast, the fruit was losing all its acid. So focusing on single-vineyard mourvèdre was becoming a greater risk. If I wanted to make balanced wines with structure and energy in the future, I’d have to start blending.”

For a winemaker who had focused primarily on single-varietal wines, deciding to blend was not a decision he took lightly, but it was one that invigorated him — especially when he began thinking outside the box.

Rather than creating traditional wine blends — a marriage of varietals from the same geographic region — Wallace decided to create balance in his own way.

“Following the blueprints of traditional wine blends didn’t make sense to me. I would just be making more of the same,” said Wallace. “We have these incredible vineyards with carignane, mourvèdre, barbera, primitivo and chenin blanc, which offers an amazing variety of textures, flavors and acid profiles. I began to wonder how I could blend them together in a meaningful way. So I thought, why not mix things up and see what happens?”

That decision became a light bulb moment for Wallace. Once he began experimenting with unconventional blends, he said it was like “opening a box of wonders and delight.”

“I began to realize the wine I could make had the potential to be better than anything I’d made in the past, and that was very exciting,” said Wallace. “Not only that, it would allow us to surf the challenges of climate change in an incredible way. Winemakers keep seeking out cooler and cooler vineyards, but if we blend varietals we can do the dance with warmer temperatures and not have to rely on additions like water or tartaric acid to make balanced wines.”

But Wallace is quick to explain his process doesn’t involve throwing a bunch of varietals into a tank a hoping for the best. Sometimes it takes weeks of experimenting and up to 100 different blends to find the right one.

The result is an extraordinary collection of thought-provoking wines that beg exploration with each subsequent sip.

The wines

At Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!, Wallace continues his love affair with old-vine vineyards tucked into the nooks and crannies of California, sourcing fruit from over 15 appellations throughout the state.

The 2022 Full King Crab II ($45), a zippy blend of chenin blanc, chardonnay, and skin-fermented roussane, marsanne and viognier is electric with acidity, which is buoyed by the unctuousness of the chenin blanc and white Rhone varietals.

The 2021 Nightlight Red ($47) is a savory marriage of mourvèdre from 130-year-old vines in Contra Costa with carignane from a 100-year-old vineyard in Redwood Valley and zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley.

“The mourvèdre was very deep, black and intense that year but it didn’t have any of the brightness we needed,” said Wallace. “So that little bit of carignane and zinfandel allowed the wine to maintain those dark, savory characters while shining a little nightlight on the blend. They don’t light up the whole room, but you know they’re there.”

A personal favorite is the 2022 Marvelous Mourvèdre ($55), which is rounded out with 10% grenache and 5% carignane. It’s clearly a favorite for Wallace, too.

“I consider mourvèdre to be my spirit animal,” said Wallace, whose been working with the varietal since his first harvest in 2010. “It’s so tough and thick, but it can also be delicate and nuanced. It offers this beautiful spectrum of flavors and nuances that can make the world’s best rosé but also deep, dark Bandol-style wines. I like to think the Marvelous Mourvèdre offers all the flavors of the mourvèdre-verse.”

The space

Tucked off the plaza in downtown Sonoma, Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!’s tasting room offers a bright, warm aesthetic with comfortable seating that beckons conversation. The room’s showstopper is a mural designed by illustrator Brian Steely (@briansteely), a well-known concert poster designer who also created the brand’s wine labels.

A 90-minute wine tasting ($40) includes five wines and is available by appointment. Walk-ins are dependent on availability. Wallace also plans to offer unique tasting experiences once per week, including wines paired with food or scents.

As for the name “Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!,” Wallace explains:

“Extradimensional means ‘outside the known universe’ and that’s what Kate and I feel like we’re doing here,” he said. “We’re going outside the known California wine universe to create these new blends and make the most beautiful thing we can.”

As for the “Yeah!,” Wallace, a former drummer, said he just liked the cadence of it.

“It shows we’re really doing something outside the box, not just with the wines, but also with our labels and even the name. I think what we offer is pretty different here.”

You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @whiskymuse.