2015 Hook & Ladder Station Ten Zinfandel Blend Estate Russian River 750 ml

We’re ringing the five-alarm on this smokin’ 2015 Hook & Ladder Station Ten Zinfandel Blend, a dynamite Zinfandel made by one of Sonoma’s founding fathers. At under $25, it’s among the best Sonoma Zinfandel values we’ve tasted in years.

The Hook & Ladder opens with the perfect level of ripe, jammy black fruit on the front, with supple tannins and complex herb and black pepper spice that add an extra layer of complexity to the finish. Overflowing with mixed berry aromas and adorned with a light dusting of vanilla, allspice, and fresh herbs, we almost fell off our bar stools when we found out its bottle cost.

“We thought we knew all the scrappy upstarts!” We said to the bartender as we looked at the label. 

“Ha!” She laughed. “Not sure Cecil De Loach qualifies as an upstart!”

He definitely doesn’t. Cecil De Loach is the Sonoma County legend who helped create the Russian River Valley AVA, thanks to the success of the eponymous De Loach label he founded in 1975. He was among the very first to use that designation on his labels, and pushed his neighbors to do the same. He worked tirelessly to research and petition for the Russian River Valley’s official appellation status (which was finally granted in 1983). You might say that without Cecil De Loach, Sonoma County would be without its most treasured AVA.

We knew Cecil had sold the De Loach brand in 2003, and thought he’d ridden off into the sunset. But it turns out that for someone with Cecil’s passion for winemaking, that would be impossible. He and his family continued to farm and make wines from his more than 148 acres of Russian River Valley vineyards, and he trained his grandson, Jason, to make wine in the signature, micro-terroir-driven De Loach style that helped Sonoma shoot to worldwide recognition in the 1970s and ‘80s. 

The Hook & Ladder (not to mention Station Ten) name is a nod to the 17 years that Cecil spent as a firefighter—which he continued well into his tenure as a celebrated Sonoma winemaker. His famous modesty is the reason we’d never heard of the wines until that afternoon at Underwood. His goal after selling De Loach was to eschew the critics entirely and instead make estate wines that his firefighter pals could afford to drink, without sacrificing any of the quality that made his first label such a Russian River darling.

We couldn’t be more thrilled that his legacy continues on with Hook & Ladder—a rare Russian River value from a legend, and one that comes at a belief-defying price. Claim a bottle, claim a case, and revel in the ripe richness of classic Sonoma County Zin!