In 1978 a Bakersfield farming family named Hope drove over the hills to Paso Robles, bought a ranch, and put in apple trees and grapevines. Their son Austin was eight, and he spent his childhood playing in those rows while his father figured out the land. Four decades later, the Cabernet that carries Austin’s name pours in steakhouses and living rooms across the country, and the family that started as grape growers has become one of the defining names in Paso Robles wine.

From apple orchard to Cabernet powerhouse

Chuck and Marlyn Hope moved their family from Bakersfield to Paso Robles in 1978, planting apples and grapes on a ranch in what is now the Templeton Gap District. Through the 1980s and 1990s the Hopes were growers, not vintners, selling fruit to others. The turning point came when the Wagner family of Napa’s Caymus Vineyards came looking for Cabernet for their Liberty School label and found it in the Hope vineyards, a vote of confidence from one of California’s great wine families.

Austin Hope studied at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and came home in 1996 to lead the family’s leap from selling grapes to making wine. They took over the Liberty School label that year and launched Treana, and in 2000 Austin started a small label under his own name, focused at first on Rhone varieties grown on the family ground. That Austin Hope label, and especially its Cabernet Sauvignon, would go on to become one of the most sought-after wines to come out of Paso Robles, proof of how far the region, and the family, had traveled.

Before they ever made their own wine, the Hopes grew the Cabernet that went into Caymus’s Liberty School label, a vote of confidence from one of Napa’s great families.

The Templeton Gap, built for structured reds

The Hope estate sits in the Templeton Gap District, the cooler western edge of Paso Robles. The Templeton Gap is a real break in the Santa Lucia Range, a doorway that lets Pacific fog and cool ocean air push inland on summer afternoons. Days here get hot enough to ripen Cabernet fully, but the marine air drops the temperature sharply at night, and that swing between heat and chill keeps the fruit balanced, ripe and fresh at once.

The vines grow in alluvial terrace soils, sandy and silty clay loams with calcareous patches, the chalky old-seabed character that runs through Paso’s best red-wine ground. It is a combination built for structured, generous reds, full of Central Coast sunshine but carrying the acidity and grip that come from cold nights and limestone-rich dirt.

The wines: ripe, plush, unmistakably Paso

Cabernet Sauvignon is the headline, and the Austin Hope Cabernet is the wine that made the name. It is unapologetically Paso, ripe and plush, with dark cassis and blackberry, sweet oak spice, and a velvety weight that has won it a devoted national following. The Reserve and Quest bottlings push deeper and more structured for those who want to cellar.

The family’s roots in Rhone varieties still run through the portfolio, Grenache and Syrah that show the warmer, sun-soaked side of the Central Coast, along with the Treana wines and the long-running Liberty School label that remains one of California’s smartest values in Cabernet. Across all of it, the house style is generous and polished, wine made to be enjoyed young and to overdeliver on its promise.

What to pour it with

The Austin Hope Cabernet was made for red meat, and the chemistry is simple. Its firm tannins bind to the protein and fat in a well-marbled steak, so the wine turns softer and rounder while the meat tastes cleaner and less rich. Pour it with a grilled ribeye or a peppercorn-crusted New York strip and you get the textbook Cabernet experience, each one improving the other.

For the Rhone reds, think heartier and more rustic. Syrah loves smoke and char, so try it with grilled lamb chops or barbecued brisket, where the wine’s savory, peppery side meets the fire. Skip the lean white fish with these big reds, where there is no fat for the tannin to grab and the wine turns bitter and metallic. When the Cabernet is open, keep the food rich, simple, and off the grill.

Austin Hope Winery: common questions