INSIDER DEAL! XX% Off Hook & Ladder Chalk Hill Cab and Merlot

94 and 93 point, single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, both aged 20 months in French and American oak (with 30% new barrels), for a fraction of the normal price! Don’t miss the new vintage of the Hook & Ladder Los Amigos Ranch Chalk Hill Cab and Merlot, they are better than ever.

It’s another fabulous Hook & Ladder deal from the pioneering De Loach family, well known for their eponymous brand as well as their major part in getting the Russian River Valley recognized as its own AVA.

Today’s wines come from the Chalk Hill sub-appellation in the northeast corner of the Russian River Valley between the Alexander Valley and Knights Valley AVAs. There are just a handful of producers here, including Hook & Ladder’s 132-acre estate Los Amigos vineyard. Chalk Hill’s slightly warmer climate, higher elevation, and white, quartzite-rich volcanic soils make it ideal for producing classic red Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Here’s a bit more about the winery:

After the sale of their acclaimed De Loach Vineyards in 2003 to French vintners Boisset Family Estates, Cecil and Christine continued to farm and make wines from the more than 148 acres of vineyard Russian River Valley – and moved on to their next winery project.

In 2003, they launched Hook & Ladder Winery on Olivet Road, just down the street from their original De Loach Vineyards. Named for Cecil’s 17-year career as a San Francisco firefighter, Hook & Ladder is helmed today by grandson Jason De Loach, an accomplished winemaker who joined the winery in 2006.

Hook & Ladder is an “estate” producer, specializing in small bottlings of Pinot Noir, “Old Vine” Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends sourced from the family’s sustainably-farmed vineyards in Russian River Valley and its sub-appellation, Chalk Hill. The winery also produces and sells estate-grown Olive Oil from trees grown at their Los Amigos Ranch.

These days, Cecil and Christine can often be found at the winery they founded, helping out in the office, cellar and occasionally in the tasting room, which is festooned with fire station t-shirts given to the winery by visiting firefighters from all around the world.

Chalk Hill is a rather exclusive area, and so estate wines like this don’t come cheap, especially when they spend 20 months in French and American oak (30% new). It’s easy to see why the normal price of the Cabernet Sauvignon is $42 a bottle and the Merlot is $40.

But of course you won’t pay anywhere near those prices through today’s deal…

For the next day you can get the 2021 Hook & Ladder Los Amigos Ranch Chalk Hill 4-pack (2 bottles of the Merlot plus 2 bottles of the Cabernet Sauvignon) for just $XX.95 ($XX.XX/bottle). That’s a discount of XX% saving you over $XX a bottle!

This 4-pack deal is available to ship to the following states: AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WV and WY. (These states are dependent on the offering winery/licensee and are not representative of all our deals. Every deal can have different, sometimes more, sometimes less, states available.)

Shipping is a flat $7.99 per order, no matter how many 4-packs you buy. Packages ship via UPS Ground 5-10 days after the deal ends. If this is your first time ordering please check out the shipping section of our FAQ for more information. For your convenience you also have the option to select a UPS Store to ship to at checkout (with no extra fees) so you don’t have to be home to sign!

Read on for our full review.

Clicking on the Add To Cart button above will take you to our checkout at shop.reversewinesnob.com. Once there you can adjust the quantity of 4-packs in your order. Ends Wednesday 4/30/2025 at noon (PT).

Let’s take a look at the Cabernet Sauvignon first, you will receive two bottles in today’s 4-pack.

From the winery:

Estate Bottled, Los Amigos Ranch, Chalk Hill

Tasting Notes: Deep garnet color with aromas of vanilla, black cherry, sage, and a hint of licorice. This Cabernet Sauvignon displays flavors of dark berry jam, baking spices, cardamom, finishing with silky tannins and powdered cocoa.

The Winemaking: Upon arriving from the vineyard, our Cabernet Sauvignon is gently destemmed and crushed before being moved to tank to begin fermentation. During this process, we carefully return fermenting wine onto its own “cap” of grape skins to extract all of the color, flavors, and tannins. We then press the remaining skins, and the resulting wine is aged for approximately 20 months in a combination of hand-selected American and European oak barrels.

The Vineyards: Cecil De Loach has been farming the Russian River Valley for over 40 years and was among a small group of vintners that helped define this area as one of America’s premier growing regions. This Cabernet Sauvignon was made from vines grown at Cecil’s Los Amigos Ranch, a vineyard in the Chalk Hill district of the Russian River Valley.

Harvest Date: September 18, 2021
Estate Bottled: September 1, 2023
Aging: 20 months in French & American Oak, 30% new
pH: 3.45
TA: .66
Cases Produced: 3720
Winemaker: Jason De Loach
Alcohol: 14.5%
Cork

And now on to our review:

The 2021 Hook & Ladder Los Amigos Ranch Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon needs a bit of air to really come together but when it does there’s a lot going on and it’s going on good. This one is full of black cherry, spice, vanilla, cocoa, leather, cedar and much more. It’s an awesome start.

Tasting the wine reveals lots of juicy, ripe dark berry fruit and other flavors similar to the nose plus lovely and well-integrated spice notes. Full-bodied and with great balance, structure and depth, this is a lovely example of Cabernet. And it just keeps on getting better as it breathes.

It ends dry, grippy and even a bit dusty with lots of dynamic spice notes on the very long and lasting finish. It was just as good on day 2. We like this one even a bit better than the 2020 giving it a Perfect 10 Taste Rating.

Cheers,
Jon

Next let’s take a look at the Merlot, you will receive two bottles in today’s 4-pack.

From the winery:

Estate Bottled, Los Amigos Ranch, Chalk Hill
Tasting Notes: This single vineyard Merlot displays a deep garnet color. Aromas of ripe strawberries and Rabbiteye blueberries give way to caramel and cedar. Chocolate, cola and spice make this finish smooth and memorable.

The Vineyards: Cecil De Loach has been farming the Russian River Valley for over 40 years and was among a small group of vintners that helped define this area as one of America’s premier growing regions. This Merlot was made from vines grown at Cecil’s Los Amigos Ranch, a vineyard in the Chalk Hill district of the Russian River Valley.

The Winemaking: Upon arriving from the vineyard, our Merlot is gently destemmed and crushed before being moved to tank to begin fermentation. During this process, we carefully return fermenting wine onto its own “cap” of grape skins to extract all the color, flavors, and tannins. We then press the remaining skins, and the resulting wine is aged for approximately 20 months in a combination of 12 hand-selected American and European oak barrels.

Harvest Date: October 8-18, 2021
pH: 3.50
TA: .62
Estate Bottled: September 1, 2023
Aging: 20 months in French oak, 30% new
Cases Produced: 1200
Winemaker: Jason De Loach
Alcohol: 14.5%
Cork

And now on to our review:

The 2021 Hook & Ladder Los Amigos Ranch Chalk Hill Merlot opens with a lovely, deep aroma full of dark spicy fruit, cedar, licorice and more. It’s a wonderful start.

Thee wine tastes deep and juicy and features a smooth, round mouthfeel. It is tasting a little bit young right now with oaky spice throughout, but that subsides quickly and it gains even more complexity as it has some time to breathe. It also has excellent structure and ability to age.

It ends dry, long, and a bit grippy with lots of lasting spicy dark fruit on the mouthwatering finish. It was just as good on day 2. We put this at the very high end of our 9 Taste Rating, what a combo in today’s deal!

Cheers,
Jon

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Get the 2021 Hook & Ladder Chalk Hill Cab and Merlot 4-Pack while you can! This deal ends Wednesday 4/30 at noon Pacific.

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