Matt Dusi joins Hope Family Wines executive team
Matt Dusi. Photo from LinkedIn.
Dusi brings 25 years of finance and wine industry experience
– Hope Family Wines has appointed Matt Dusi as vice president of business operations, a new position responsible for overseeing and optimizing the daily operations, administrative functions, and new opportunities at the Paso Robles winery.
Dusi, whose family has farmed and grown wine grapes in the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area for four generations, will work with ownership, executive leadership, winemaking, vineyard management, finance, and direct-to-consumer teams.
“Matt is the perfect person at the perfect time to help Hope Family Wines move into this next stage of growth and opportunity,” owner and winemaker Austin Hope said. “Not only does he have the experience and skill set to help with our multifaceted business operations, but he is also a wine industry veteran who, like me, grew up in Paso Robles and maintains a deep love for the region.”
Dusi’s great-grandparents, Sylvester and Caterina Dusi, immigrated from Northern Italy and settled in Paso Robles, where they began planting zinfandel vines in 1925. The family has remained active in local winegrowing and winemaking since then.
Dusi joins Hope Family Wines from Bank of the Sierra, where he served as head of commercial banking and managed a team of 40 lenders and support personnel overseeing a lending portfolio of $2 billion. His career in banking, finance, and family wine and farming operations spans 25 years on the Central Coast.
“Hope Family Wines and Austin Hope are synonymous with Paso Robles, with decades of experience producing some of the region’s finest wines,” Dusi said. “After more than 30 years of knowing and working with so many people at Hope Family Wines, coming here feels less like starting a new job and more like joining a family.”
The winery said Dusi’s appointment comes as the company continues to expand its operations and investments in Paso Robles.
Hope Family Wines produces six brands: Austin Hope, Treana, Quest, Austin, Liberty School, and Troublemaker. The company said Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon is distributed in 62 countries across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The winery operates two tasting rooms in Paso Robles.
Last year, the company opened a 140,000-square-foot warehouse and bottling facility that serves as the primary pickup point for its distribution network. The winery also acquired the 250-acre Tufera Farms estate vineyard in the Creston District, which supplies fruit for its wines and supports truffle production through Hope Provisions.
Earlier this year, Hope Family Wines launched a 40,000-square-foot rooftop solar array that the company said offsets 60% of the energy used by its production facility, offices, and warehouse operations.
“We believe that Paso Robles is, in many ways, just getting started,” Hope said. “We will continue to invest in sustainability, enterprise and family winemaking as we continue to champion this amazing place.”
