Stopped by the EWCY tasting room and spent a couple hours with Hardy today, tasting through some great wines past, present and especially future. This was the most pleasurable tasting I’ve had at a winery in a long, long time.
Too many wines to post detailed notes, but several of the not yet released wines are lights out good, and possibly the best wines Hardy has ever made.
The wines we went through:
Summer salters II
Summer salters IV
24 Cosmic lawnmower
24 Light of the Moon
Mystery train
Partial eclipse
Figure ground
22 marvelous mourvedre
24 Sonoma Valley UFO
24 Heart and Hummingbird
22 Mariana’s M-CF
23 Mariana’s cab sauv
23 Mariana’s cab franc
A few highlights -
24 Light of the Moon, a semillon (part direct press and part skin-contact) was my new favorite white from Hardy… at least until he poured the 24 Sonoma Valley UFO, Grenache blanc with a bunch of other things, which is just lights out good. My partner requested that we order at least a case when it comes out.
The 22 M-CF is light and ethereal with a velvety texture, with a transparency of flavors that immediately brought to mind the 95 Lafleur I had last summer. I said as much to Hardy which made him happy, as Lafleur was his inspiration for making this wine. Amazing. But as good as this wine was the 23 Cab Franc might be my favorite wine that Hardy has ever made. This was sui generis, joyous and effusive and distinctly a Hardy wine, yet crystalline and refined, savory, and with some extra magical pixie dust sprinkled in. Surely can go toe to toe with the best cab francs in the world.
Hi Vince, it would have been great to meet you. We arrived on the later side for our pick up but did manage to enjoy a few wines.
2022 Summer Salters Rose
2024 Summer Salters Rose
Tasting these two side by side was a treat. Two learnings: do not be afraid to age the Summer Salters, 22 was awesome! The 24 is everything I look for, ripe fruity note, herbal tinge and nice acidity with a wonderful bitter note on the finish!!
Then came the last two, 2023 Extradimensional Cabernet Sauvignon Mariana’s vineyard (not yet released) An awesome OLD SCHOOL Cab without the early young harshness of the classic Napa Cabs of the 70’s and 80’s. Beautiful wine!
Last wine was the 2023 Extradimensional Cabernet Franc Mariana’s Vineyard (not yet released) Have tasted a lot of excellent Cab Franc from everywhere, this is right up there with the very best, fresh ripe fruit, floral notes along with herbs, this wine is stunning!
Do yourself a favor and don’t miss either when they are released around November or so.
Best of all was talking to Hardy about the wines vineyards, climate, soils etc etc. That is what makes the visit special!
Tom
PS: For those interested, Poppy French Bistro in Glen Ellen ( was the Fig Cafe) was excellent!
100% with you here. The 22 was so, so good. And I loved the beautiful coppery-salmon color. Can’t wait to see where the 24 goes with a few years as well.
Vince- It was wonderful to have you at the tasting room this weekend! So glad you dug the new wines. I kept checking in on the Cab Franc all weekend and it kept going beautifully.
Always a treat to have you in. The 22 Summer Salters II was so so good. Thrilled you got to try the Cab Franc. It is bananas.
I hosted a pinot tasting last night, the intent being to show off the range of terroir that California has to offer, over 9 wines from deep Anderson Valley down to St. Rita Hills. I would say it was a success because of the 9 tasters, no wine got more than 2 WOTN nods. Those were Cobb - Wendling, Racines - La Rinconada, and . . . . . Extradimensional - Brosseau.
The Brosseau pinot is really something. None of the wines were an overripe style, but the Yeah! stood out for its brightness and uniqueness. The color is wild, punchy nose, fruit but also stone, just a very unique and enjoyable young wine.
My wife and I regularly make black bean tacos from a Washington Post recipe. Whenever we have them I immediately think of opening a YEAH! wine.
It was that time again tonight, so I opened the Mourvèdre-Carignan blend, the 2022 Ancient Groove. The Carignan dominated at first, but once I had a bite of the tacos the bass note of the Mourvèdre took hold. The brightness of the Carignan was a great counterpoint to the rich flavors of the beans.
Only bottle in my fall 2024 shipment, but I suspect there are other YEAH! wines coming that will get the job done on future taco Tuesdays.
We visited Hardy this weekend at his tasting room in Sonoma. It was easily the highlight of the day! Great wines and great stories. We look forward to our first shipment.
Reminder- Library case offers (Red and White) drop this AM. Only 4 cases of each- All the way back to the very first wines. Check your emails at 7AM PT
Update: Mythical White cases are sold out. 2 Reds left
2024 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! Full King Crab IV Brosseau Vineyard Chalone - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (6/13/2025)
There's little doubt in my mind that this batch of 2024 whites are the best that Hardy has made to date. Up until now, the whites have been nice but have never gone up to 11 like the reds, but along with the Sonoma Valley UFO and the Light of the Moon, this FKCIV really is lights out good. Simultaneously joyful and introspective, this has good chenin typicity (honeycomb, quince, chamomile tea), along with some brighter citric notes that buzz the palate like a bumblebee in a summer field. I get a hint of aromatic complexity (roses, more wildflower honey, maybe a dollop of lychee) that maybe comes from the rhone varietals (15% viognier, 10% marsanne, 10% roussanne). This has so much character, depth and verve, plus a bonkers finish that stays for days. Do yourself a favor and pop a bottle soon. (94 points)
30 minute decant and this needs more: it really opened up a lot more after an additional half hour in the glass. A light version of Barbera, a grape I do not always like. OK, that I often hate. I did not hate this wine; in fact, it was a blast, fun and tasty.
This had tons of raspberry/strawberry, juniper ?, and nutmeg. Highly acidic with an unripe tropical edge — papaya? that I didn’t understand until I cheated and read that this is 30% Semillon. This is totally your best pizza wine. Had it with baked pork chops and it was great. Very versatile, more subtle than it first appears, a great all-rounder wine. And made with Barbera, my second most disliked red variety after Pinot d’Aunuis. If EWCY! can make me see Barbera in a new light, they can do anything.
Any idea where the fruit came from on this? Asking as a Shake Ridge barbara from someone else (blanking on who) really turned my head a bit ago on a variety I have always ignored.
