A few corks in the road so to speak but finally we arrived at Hook & Ladder Winery. We had the pleasure of meeting Jason Deloach and his wife for a tour and tasting. Talk about someone with a high energy level and a passion for wine making you have a description of Jason.
We started tasting Chardonnay and Jason informed his marketing director that not only was I a big Pinot Noir fan but the first person following them from Twitter that had ever visited the winery. I wear the title proudly! Next Jason poured me a couple Pinot Noirs which were very awesome and ended up being purchased (like I would leave there without Pinot). We ended the day in the tasting room with a Gewurztraminer.
The tour was very interesting and started with showing us the huge tanks for fermenting wine to the barrels being cleaned out and prepared for new wine. We found it interesting how they determined when a barrel was ready to be replaced and the life span can be quite long. Jason even went through how the area was prepared for harvest time and you could hear the excitment in his voice as he went through the process.
Next was the barrel room and he asked if I would like some samples from the barrel. Before I could say yes I have my first taste, a pinot ready to bottle in July. Could really tell this wine was close to consume. Several barrels later and ending with a port I had an absolute blast and Jason's energy about how he thinks wine should be is contageous (climbing up and down the racked barrels providing samples I had to laugh).
We couldn't thank them enough for taking time out of their busy day to taste some great wine and learn more about Hook & Ladder Winery. They just closed on a new home and for them to stop and talk with us was very appreciated. Jason you are an awesome winemaker and I will have Hook & Ladder wine on hand for my friends to enjoy. We should be carrying this wine in Iowa so I'm on a mission :). Wine lovers this is a must stop in the RRV.
Cheers
Dan
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