AUSTIN HOPE

Austin Hope has a simple goal: to make spectacular, estate grown Syrah and Grenache.

Aiming that high requires a dedication to quality at every step in the winemaking process.  From the care taken in planting the Hope Family Vineyard, to the choice of coopers for barrels. That goal is more than a marketing slogan: it flows directly from the natural advantages of a perfect growing location in the Templeton Gap district of Paso Robles; the intense, flavorful fruit that comes from hand-farming the vineyard; and the skills of a highly talented winemaking hand overseeing it all.

Austin Hope arrived in Paso Robles in 1978, when his family moved to the small farming town in search of new opportunity. His parents bought land and planted both vineyards and apple orchards. He was just eight years old when the grapes came on line in the 1980s and began learning in the vineyards alongside his father, Chuck Hope.

In 1995 he graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in fruit science. Beginning in the 1980s, the Hope family sold Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to Caymus for its Liberty School label, and Austin followed his father's advice to seek out an opportunity to work with Caymus founder Chuck Wagner.

Austin worked with Wagner in Napa, both inside the winery and the administrative offices, learning the nuts and bolts of the wine business from one of California's most respected producers. "That was probably my a-ha moment," says Austin. "I realized that I not only wanted to grow grapes, but to manage our own label to bring our fruit directly to the market," he says.

The Hope family began producing Liberty School wines and founded Treana in 1996. After beginning as the assistant winemaker, Austin became winemaker for the Hope portfolio in 1998.  Hope Family Wines now makes Treana, Liberty School, Candor, Troubelmaker and Austin Hope wines. In 2009, Austin Hope was named "Winemaker of the Year" at the California Mid-State Fair.