2015 Hook & Ladder The Tillerman Red Blend Estate Bottled Russian River 750 ml

At $20, the 2015 Hook & Ladder Tillerman Red Blend ranks among the best Sonoma Cabernet values we’ve tasted in years.

To the delight of many Wine Access members, we recently learned that Sonoma legend Cecil De Loach came out of retirement to quietly make $20 wine in the Russian River Valley under his Hook & Ladder label. Station Ten Zinfandel was the first we discovered, and when it promptly sold out, we realized we must not be the only Cecil De Loach fans out there. We promptly contacted the man himself to see what else he’d be willing to share. 

Enter the 2015 Hook & Ladder Tillerman Red Blend. We weren’t sure if the Station Ten could be topped for a value red (especially with Cabernet), but then we tasted this. Classic blackberry and cassis aromas evoke Cabs three times the price, especially after a few swirls in the glass, when the vanilla, pie spice, tobacco, and violet notes kick in. Balanced and complex, the bold structure supports a brambly berry palate, backed by supple tannins and a toasted oak finish. We shouldn’t have been so surprised by the serious quality. 

Made by Cecil De Loach—one of Sonoma’s founding fathers, whose De Loach label helped create the Russian River Valley AVA—the character of this red is all De Loach. The price is (still) tough to wrap our heads around—Russian River grapes are expensive—so we headed straight to the source, where Cecil’s grandson (and winemaker) Jason broke it down for us. 

After Cecil sold the De Loach brand in 2003, he and his family continued to farm and make wines from the 148 acres of Russian River Valley vineyards he retained. 

Cecil’s goal after selling De Loach was to make estate wines that his friends could afford to drink—specifically his firefighter pals from his days as a San Francisco fireman. Owning his vineyards for as long as he has affords him the luxury of pricing his wines however he wants, without sacrificing any of the quality that made his first label such a Russian River darling. 

Cecil has been training 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. Jason has been making wine with his grandfather since he graduated from high school, and Cecil hopes he will carry on the De Loach legacy. Based on the 2015 Hook & Ladder Tillerman Red Blend alone, he’s well on his way. 

Jason and Cecil modeled the Tillerman Red Blend after Cecil’s 17 years as a tillerman, the firefighter who steers the rear wheels of the hook and ladder fire truck. In the wine, the Cabernet Sauvignon steers the balance of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Sangiovese, driving a blend that showcases the Chalk Hill AVA, in the Russian River Valley’s northeast corner, from Cecil’s own Los Amigos Ranch Vineyards.  

All of the blend’s varieties are aged as individual components with their own specific barrel program, which is a technique we are more used to seeing with $75 wines—definitely not $20 bottles. Handpicking from those barrels enables Cecil and Jason to pinpoint the right flavor components, using the barrels as a kind of spice rack when putting the blend together.

This Hook & Ladder red is a rare Russian River value from a living legend, and one that comes at a belief-defying price. Cecil has purposefully avoided press for this wine to keep the prices down, but we can’t help ourselves. A ripe, multilayered Sonoma County Cabernet Blend for $20? Claim your cases now before word gets out.