Business View Magazine March 2023

126 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 customers because that helps to build our brand,” he says. “We care about how humans share the experience of wines and these moments of beauty together.” For too long, some sectors of the wine industry fell into a trap of trying to make a winery feel “exclusive” and unattainable to some, Ruddick says. But that is not how a brand is built these days. The ongoing focus on offering many varieties of wine to a diverse population is one reason why Hook and Ladder’s wine club continues to steadily grow with few monthly cancellations. “Customers want to feel like they are getting value and that’s what we provide,” Ruddick says. Another big part of the Hook and Ladder story is its efforts to preserve not only its vineyards in a sustainable way but to engage in environmentally friendly actions because it is best for the local community and the world at large. Part of that belief stems from De Loach’s background as a civic employee. For example, Cecil and Christine De Loach have included 118 acres of their vineyard properties in the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. These properties include oak woodland, which unlike many parts of Sonoma County regenerates well. Additionally, Hook and Ladder do not cut down healthy, mature oak trees. Instead, they are made to be an integral part of its vineyards. Several years ago, Hook and Ladder started an oak tree nursery to provide an in-house source of native oak trees to be used in our environmental projects.