HONYOCKER | 2021

On the label is Lane Saarloos - The Texas Tornado - driving my 1971 Pinzgauer at about 9 years old. Lane epitomizes the spirit of a Honyocker,
LIVING LIFE WITH HER HAIR ON FIRE - just like the wild and carefree kids described in the story below.
She’s the kind of kid who thinks old cars,card games and screeming BOOOOOOOORRRRRRINNNNNGGGGG at baseball games, are the coolest things in the world.

I mean, The Kid has her own Merch

Kids who think old cars, hi-gloss paint, and burnouts are cool and Heckling Ballplayers will always be just a little happier than everyone else. That kid is a Honyocker…

Lane Saarloos, my niece, embodies this spirit. From the moment she could walk, she had a spark in her eye and a spirit that couldn't be tamed. At just 9 years old, she was tearing around in my 1971 Pinzgauer, earning the nickname "The Texas Tornado." Lane is fearless, unapologetically herself, and full of that uncontainable joy that only comes from living life on your own terms.

She’s a true Honyocker.

I also have a soft spot for when kids call things "Bitchen."

The Great Mistake: We excel at making mistakes. You might notice that this wine doesn’t follow any particular norm. It’s wild; it’s unique; it’s a trailblazer. One white grape and two red grapes. Unconventional? Absolutely. Delicious? Undoubtedly. This is another wine that just happened, pulling us away from conventional winemaking. No more “this is what others do” or “this is what a traditional wine is.” Playing it safe won't make you original.

This wine is TRULY ORIGINAL. Go ahead, try to find a Grenache Blanc / Syrah / Mourvedre out in the world. I’ll wait… See, it doesn’t exist. That’s the perfection of this glorious mistake that has taken on a life of its own. It’s the wine that, when whispered about among the Saarloos and Sons Wine Club family, makes ears perk up and people ask, “Do you have another bottle?” It has become a legend, and every legend has a great backstory.

And it goes a little something like this…

A few years ago, we made one of the best mistakes of our lives. We had a problem. Too many grapes that year. Not really a problem, but they had no home. All the tanks in the winery were full as we neared the end of the harvest. Think of it like your boss asking to see you at 5 PM on a Friday, right before your vacation… Yeah, like that. In 2014, we had a great harvest, fulfilling every contract and keeping some for ourselves, but we still had fruit in the fields. Quite a contrast to 2015 when yields were down to 30% of normal. But that’s farming, and I digress. My father has an emotional connection to not leaving anything in the field. Even though everyone was satisfied, there was still food on the plate. So, after a three-minute conversation with my cousin, we decided to pick what was left and see what happened. Yes, the Saarloos Family comes from a long line of “problems are just inconvenient opportunities.” And no, I have never heard of anyone making a Grenache Blanc, Syrah, Mourvedre before.

So, how did it turn out? Good. Really good. Stupid good. I love this wine, mostly because it tastes like heaven and has an underlying pep. Yes, pep. What a good word to describe it.

This wine broke the mold for us years ago and sells out before we even make it.

This wine tastes like tearing around the mountains in a Jeep, having a water balloon fight. What a bunch of Honyockers.

Lane, The Texas Tornado, reminds me of this wine. She's a burst of energy, a whirlwind of enthusiasm, and a testament to living life with a free spirit. Just like this wine, Lane doesn’t fit into any conventional mold. She’s wild, unique, and full of life.

You want conformity? Stand in line at the grocery store while we have all the fun.

I was called a Honyocker a lot growing up. I didn’t know it wasn’t a real word. I’m not even sure if it is. But now, there’s a wine named after it, so it seems pretty real now. Honyocker was what my grandmother called my brother and me when we were wrestling in the grass, doing burnouts, getting black eyes, laughing in church, and just being wild kids. She would laugh at us and yell, “Quit it, you little Honyockers.” It wasn’t like using our middle names, showing she meant business. It was just this word I heard when we were having more fun than appropriate. I come from a long line of Honyockers. My Folks would go on Jeep rides, crossed rivers and broke each other’s windows with water balloons. I’m assured by multiple sources that no beer was involved, ever. They were just wild kids doing wild things, having fun. It wasn’t that they did anything illegal growing up, it’s just that the laws hadn’t caught up with them. My folks have tons of these stories, and hearing them growing up, it seemed like that’s what you were supposed to do. So, during my teenage years of pranks, pellet guns, fire extinguishers, eggs, and general Honyocking, my folks mostly laughed it off, shook their heads, and went back to bed. If there weren’t cops involved, they slept pretty well. Sadly, I think Lane Saarloos has a pretty deep Honyocking streak in her, and Grandpa and Grandma fill her with stories.

Today, you’d probably describe a Honyocker as a nonconformist, a whippersnapper, a juvenile delinquent, a fun-loving rapscallion, or a curtain climber. I love these kinds of kids—the heart of gold, jump off the roof into the pool, tell the best stories, and bend the worst rules. My niece Lane Linda is this kind of kid. As my dad said to my brother, “Save money for bail, not college.”

But as I’ve gotten older and my hair grayer, I’ve realized all my memories are of these kinds of people. All my friends to this day are a bunch of Honyockers who refuse to grow up. Also, may I add that if you want to understand the entrepreneur, you should study the juvenile delinquent. If you want to see a successful entrepreneur, you should study the Honyocker.

So, here’s to Lane, the Texas Tornado, and all the Honyockers out there. Keep tearing it up, living wild, and embracing the glorious mistakes that make life—and wine—so beautifully unique.