Austin Hope Grenache 2014. Troublemaker was my nickname...
"Troublemaker
was my nickname growing up. I’d do something crazy in school where I’d get sent home. My dad would tell me I’d have to go work with him in the vineyards, which was fine, because that’s where I wanted to be.”
As a child, Austin Hope knew how to get sent home from school.
His challenging behavior in the classroom ultimately led him to where he wanted to be; working in the vineyards with his father. As an adult, the Paso Robles winemaker turned an elephant into an artist, and envisioned the result would make a striking wine label. As a winemaker, he’s brought elements from both experiences into his portfolio of wines.
Austin Hope Grenache 2014 ($55) is from Paso Robles’ West Side and Hope said is his most “challenging to make.”
But, if he could take a honeymoon ride on an elephant in the dense jungles of Thailand’s Chiang Mei Province, and get it to paint on a giant easel with paint brush taken to a palette, then making a captivating wine in California surely had to be easier.
With the elephant’s art adorning the label, Hope show’s he as talented as a winemaker as he is an art instructor. The wine has a deep purple color in the glass. Plum, blackberry compote and subtle strawberry flavors highlight a rich, full bodied, long-lasting wine that has hints of iron shavings on the finish.
While Hope Family wines consists of five different brands, Liberty School, Austin Hope, Treana, Candor and Troublemaker - and ode to his behavior as a school child - Hope remains true to his roots which date back to 1978 when there was less than 1,000 acres of grapes planted in Paso Robles.
"Paso is still a
a special place because there are so many families involved in the farming,” Hope said. “There are some places where winemaking is a second or third career. It’s a hobby, it’s not people dedicated to farming. I run around with the people deeply rooted in the area; they’re farmers.”