On the Road with the Grape Guy
Report from - 10 Years of Treana with Austin Hope ... June 4, 2009
09 Jul 2009- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
What does Treana, Austin Hope, Liberty School and Candor Wines all have in common? They all fall under the purview of Hope Family Wines, a winery started in 1978 as one of the first wineries in Paso Robles (halfway between San Francisco and L.A.). Back then there were 4 wineries and only 1000 acres of grapes planted, today there are 180 wineries in the region and 30,000 acres of grapes; if you consider that the Paso appellation is about 600,000 acres all told, that means that 5% of the land within the appellation is planted to grapes. The Paso appellation also has some 10-12 microclimates within it and the diurnal temperature (high to low) in a 24-hour period can range, some 40-50 degrees. But back to Hope Family …
In the beginning the winery saw themselves as mainly a Cabernet house and planted the majority of their vineyards to this grape. In 1996, they began making their signature blend Treana, a mainly Cabernet blend with other grapes they grew thrown in for added complexity. As we learned from this 10-year retrospective tasting, Treana has always been a work in progress (see notes below).
Hope Family’s other big name wine label is Liberty School, a brand started in the 70’s by Caymus, but then it was set adrift when Caymus decided to focus their attention on their own signature wine. The Liberty School brand was finally rescued, from certain death (and sure ridicule), by Hope in 1995, turning it into a value priced, quality brand.
Finally, the newest member of the Hope Family of wines is Candor. Currently, only two non-vintage wines are made under the label: Merlot and Zinfandel, two varietals that winemaker Austin (Hope) loves to make wine from. The hope (no pun intended) is to make “reasonably priced good wine” in the line. Instead of vintage dated they will be lot numbered and use grapes from a variety of vintages, their alcohol level will be around 14%. The desire with these wines is to be “honest with people” about how they are made (Candor), as Austin put it “Truth Defined”.
Today’s tasting consisted of 10 red Treana wines (1996-2006) and the current releases of Liberty School (3 wines) – here’s how the best shake out: (Read more )
