Austin Hope

Coming Up

Training at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1996) gave Austin Hope a formal start in the trade before he moved into cellar work. In 1996–1996, he became assistant winemaker under Chris Phelps at Treana Winery, stepping into the day-to-day mechanics of production and learning the pace of cellar work from the inside. Those years established the habits that matter in winemaking: repetition, attention, and standards that hold from one vintage to the next. Leadership in Paso Robles also became part of the job early. As chairperson at Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Austin Hope helped shape the public face of a region defined by ambition and exacting production. The work ran alongside the cellar rather than apart from it, tying winemaking to the larger questions of how a region presents itself and how a label builds its place in the market. Since 1998, Austin has held the roles of head winemaker and president and winemaker at Hope Family Wines. The length of that tenure points to a steady consolidation of responsibility: one person carrying the practical decisions of production while also guiding the business around it. In that span, the role has become less a title than a continuing framework for how the wines are made and how they are brought forward.

Where They Are Now

Since 1998, he has been head winemaker at Hope Family Wines. He also serves as its president and winemaker in Paso Robles, California. In that dual role, the boundaries between vineyard, cellar, and market appear to narrow into a single mission. “That was probably my a-ha moment. I realized that I not only wanted to grow grapes, but to manage our own label to bring our fruit directly to the market.” It is a statement that captures both the entrepreneurial instinct and the winemaker’s desire for control over quality, voice, and expression. The result is a position that is as much about stewardship as it is about creation, with the label serving as a direct extension of the fruit and the place it comes from. Within Hope Family Wines, Austin’s perspective has become central to how the company presents itself and how its wines reach the glass.

Signature

Austin's signature wines include Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon, Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Treana, Troublemaker, and Candor. Together, these names trace the breadth of his range, from Cabernet Sauvignon to the more broadly expressive territory suggested by Treana, Troublemaker, and Candor. Each sits within the same larger frame: wines shaped by the same steady hand, and by the belief that blending across vintages can deepen both complexity and drinkability.

In Their Words “That was probably my a-ha moment. I realized that I not only wanted to grow grapes, but to manage our own label to bring our fruit directly to the market.”