I’m not going to lie, I bought this wine strictly because of the name: Troublemaker.
Troublemaker is made by wine maker Austin Hope. The way his name is mentioned I assumed he is a big name in the wine world, but I had to google him to verify. The Hope Family vineyards have been located in Paso Robles for over 30 years. So they may not be the oldest wine making family but they’ve had a lot of experience!
Troublemaker is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Petite Sirah. I have never heard of Mourvèdre before nor have I sampled it before. Apparently it is a grape often used in Grenache. Austin Hope’s goal as a winemaker is to make spectacular estate grown Syrah and Grenache.
This wine was interesting…it was full of flavor. I was at a friend’s house so we didn’t really give it any time to breath and I think this wine needed some time to open up.
If I were to have it again, I think I would give it a few hours in a decanter to see how the flavor changes and opens up.
The price point on Troublemaker was under $20 and I had never seen it before the night I bought it. Though that could partially be because it was on the bottle shelf of an end cap.
This was my first Hope Family wine that I’ve tried. I’ll have to see which other wines I can track down.
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