Hook&Ladder Vineyards and Winery

GROWERS FIRST
In 1970, San Francisco firefighter Cecil De Loach and his wife Christine

staked their claim in the wine grape business by purchasing 24 acres of old-vine Zinfandel in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. In the early seventies, the De Loaches decided to acquire additional vineyard land.

For several years they watched others make notable wine from their grapes before making the decision to produce wine under the De Loach label in 1975.

More than three decades later, Cecil and Christine sold that label and have continued their winemaking skills at the helm of a small family winery that employs a simple philosophy - craft exceptional wines, from the highest quality grapes, that people love to drink.

We consider each step of the winemaking process an opportunity to showcase the distinctive flavors contained within our carefully cultivated grapes. Every bottle of wine is a worthy representation of the best effort from each and every person at Hook and Ladder Vineyards and Winery.

OUR VINEYARDS TODAY
On 375 acres situated in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, our vineyards produce cool climate grapes widely recognized as some of the finest in the world. Grape growers of the early 1900's recognized the sites of our vineyards as being uniquely suited for wine grape growing. Building on their knowledge and experience, we have matched the soil and climate of each parcel with the varietals most likely to achieve its full potential.

Cecil De Loach, owner and winemaster
For more than three decades, Cecil De Loach has farmed grapes in the Russian River Valley. He's made wine from his grapes for just as long. There are those who have invested more time in the grapes of the Russian River Valley and made wine here for longer. But few have made such and impact on proving this region's unqualified suitability for producing wines of world-class quality.

It was in the midst of a 16-year career as a San Francisco Fireman that Cecil discovered the Russian River Valley and grape growing. In 1970 he and wife Christine began looking for a vineyard where they could create a second career for themselves outside San Francisco.

They found Louis Barbieri's twenty-four acre vineyard west of Santa Rosa. The vineyard held vines planted in 1905 and 1927, but Barbieri couldn't entice his family to farm the vineyard. He needed a buyer and Cecil wanted a vineyard. This purchase would be the first of over 900 acres of Russian River Valley vineyards Cecil would farm over the course of the next three decades.

For the first six years Cecil sold his grapes to the Sonoma County Cooperative Winery in Windsor. At the same time he took classes in enology and wine chemistry at the University of California at Davis.

In 1975 he made his first wine, an old-vine Zinfandel. De Loach Vineyards would grow to more than 250,000 cases over the years and proved to be critical in introducing the name "Russian River Valley" to wine lovers world wide. The De Loach Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels helped put the appellation on the map as one of California's premier growing regions.

In the course of developing De Loach Vineyards, Cecil would build a state-of-the-art winery, build a second full-functioning winery designed exclusively to produce Pinot Noir, help start the careers of a number of now well-known winemakers, and become a leader in the industry serving as president of The Sonoma County Vintners Co-op, The Sonoma County Winery Co-op, The Sonoma County Wineries Association and Russian River Wine Road.

Cecil retired from the San Francisco Fire Department in 1982 after a 16-year career. His time as a fireman was as influential to forming his character as nearly any other aspect of his life. He chose the name "Hook & Ladder Winery" for his latest winery project to honor his years on the firetruck.

By 2003, Cecil and family sold the De Loach Vineyards brand, which continues today. Cecil moved on to found Hook & Ladder Winery in 2004. It would be a smaller project that allows him to showcase the best of his Russian River Valley estate vineyards.

Over the years, Cecil and Christine's family have joined the effort. His oldest grandson Jason De Loach is our new winemaker; son Michael De Loach heads up marketing at Hook & Ladder winery while granddaughter Sarah De Loach oversees West Coast sales. When not directing the progress of Hook & Ladder, Cecil is likely indulging his love of fishing, history books, or cooking for a large group, a talent he perfected during sixteen years of cooking for hungry firemen.

Jason De Loach was introduced to the wine industry in the customary way; physical labor. As a young man at De Loach Vineyards he eventually worked his way into the cellar. At the age of eighteen he became involved in harvest, crush, and later on became Production Coordinator as well.

After cutting his teeth at De Loach, Jason moved up to the title of Cellar Master for Balletto Winery, where he oversaw and operated a significant portion of the winemaking process. In his second out of three and a half years there, he also became the assistant Winemaker and lab technician under the well known Winemaking Consultant Dan Cedarquist. Also during this time under Winemaker Dan Goldfield he learned the importance of constantly monitoring oxygen levels amongst other things for quality control.

Keeping with the tradition of his grandfather, Jason attended viticulture classes, and then took courses in enology from the University of California at Davis. After helping produce a number of gold medal winning wines at Balletto, Jason returned to his family roots at Hook and Ladder in 2006.

At Hook and Ladder, Jason began as Cellar Master and soon became Winemaker. Jason has been producing outstanding wines ever since; having his pick of the very best fruit from over 300 acres of vineyards farmed by his grandfather Cecil De Loach for over 30 years, Jason continues to generate exceptional wines.

On the rare occasions when Jason is not overseeing the winery, you can find him at home on the family’s Los Amigos Ranch in Healdsburg with his fiancée Nicole and their German Shepard, Aspen. In the off season Jason will most likely be either flying real airplanes, or the models he builds at home, surfing, or training for his third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Michael De Loach
Born in San Francisco and raised in Sonoma County, Hook & Ladder Winery principal Michael De Loach grew up in the wine business: he started working in the vineyard at age 11 and in the cellar at 15. After college De Loach worked as Vice President, Sales and Marketing at fledgling De Loach Vineyards, and completed courses of study in winemaking at the Napa Valley School of Cellaring, as well as the University of California at Davis Agricultural Extension. He served as president of De Loach Vineyards from 2001 to 2004.

De Loach has appeared throughout the country on radio, television and speaking engagements, and has been written about in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Denver Business Journal, The San Diego Tribune, The Austin Chronicle, Philadelphia Magazine, The Wine Spectator, Wine and Spirits, Wines and Vines, Cheers, and The Wine Enthusiast. He is the host of "Wine Country Live," a live nationally syndicated radio show, and lives in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.

Sarah De Loach has been involved in the wine industry for a large portion of her life. At a young age Sarah was granted access to the “behind the scenes” work of wine sales. There she was exposed to winemakers, restaurateurs, and everything else included in the trade. Sarah began her professional career at De Loach Vineyards during high school in marketing support and later worked in a variety of occupations. After college she decided to join the family business and has since spent over four years working for Hook and Ladder Winery.

Starting out at Hook and Ladder Winery during its infant stages, Sarah was critical to the development of the budding new company. She started out in local sales, building relationships and brand recognition with Northern Californian restaurants and wine shops. As the company expanded, so did Sarah’s job title, moving from local to national sales in states chosen by her uncle, Michael De Loach.

After two years and further company growth, Sarah was promoted to the head of West Coast Sales. Now she is more mobile, constantly traveling throughout the United States promoting and participating in wine events.

During the fleeting moments when Sarah is not on the road or in the air, she can be found at her home on the family’s Los Amigos Ranch in Healdsburg enjoying a great book, riding horses, or practicing her kick-boxing.

Joshua De Loach first started working for his family at De Loach Vineyards repairing must pumps and maintaining work vehicles. After his time with cars and equipment, Joshua moved on to help out the international importing department at De Loach, but soon found one of his passions in high school: cooking.

He first started working for Elaine Bell Catering in 1999 all over the Napa and Sonoma regions, and after a few years worked his way up to Lead Party Cook. He also at this time worked in local Healdsburg restaurants. After living and cooking in England for half a year, Joshua completed his AA degree from the Santa Rosa Junior College.

He then moved south to attend the California State University at Monterey Bay, as a communications major. There he worked for many catering companies; cooking in exclusive locations such as 17mile drive, the pit-suites at Laguna Seca, the AT&T Pro Am, Carmel, and countless celebrity mansions.

When he was finished, Joshua returned back home to spend more time with his family. During the first year home he worked at Willi’s Seafood in Healdsburg, shucking oysters. He was then offered the opportunity to once again work for his family, but this time for their new company, Hook and Ladder Winery.

He started part-time in the tasting room, but liked working with his family so much that he soon took the chance to work under his older cousin Jason the Winemaker as a cellar worker and under his father Michael and younger cousin Sarah in sales as well. After a year he also became the Official Food Safety Officer and Head Chef for Hook and Ladder on top of his previous jobs there. Joshua was also during that time promoted to Public Relations Director, writing articles, creating tech sheets and updating our website.

When he is not making and selling wine, or cooking, Joshua can be found on his family’s Los Amigos ranch in Healdsburg playing guitar or drums, riding his bike, or hanging out with his cousins.