Episode Details

🍇 Where Wine Takes You: Episode Highlights 🍷 In this episode of Where Wine Takes You, Adam sits down with Phil Lamontagne, owner and winemaker of IIWII Wines, and Taylor Mathiesen, owner and winemaker of Cutbow Wines, for a conversation about the space between paychecks and passion. Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, the episode brings together two emerging Paso Robles brands from what Phil calls the “good draft class of ’22.” Both launched in 2022. Both are earning serious respect. And both are still being built around full-time jobs, long cellar days, supportive partners, hard-earned relationships, and the belief that a small brand can grow into something much bigger. For Phil, IIWII, pronounced “ee-wee”, grew from his years working with Jennifer and Terry Hoage at TH Estate Wines. When the Hoages retired, Phil and longtime coworker Cyril Pujadas found themselves pushed from the nest. Instead of walking away from what they had built, they created IIWII: short for “It Is What It Is.” But the name is not about giving up. For Phil, it describes the reality of winemaking. It is this vintage, this hillside, this weather, this fruit, and this moment. The winemaker’s job is to capture it honestly, using the raw chemistry of wine as a palette for what he calls abstract art under a cork. Taylor’s Cutbow story started with a happy accident. After five formative years at Booker Vineyard, Taylor joined Bret Urness at Levo. During the 2022 harvest, Bret had an extra ton of Grenache from Jack Creek Vineyard and encouraged Taylor to take it, experiment, and make the wine his own. The name comes from a cutbow trout, a hybrid of a cutthroat and rainbow trout, and Taylor’s childhood fly-fishing trips with his grandfather. For Taylor and his wife, Emma, the fish became a symbol of two individuals coming together to create something distinct, beautiful, and entirely their own. Adam, Phil, and Taylor get into the open-cellar culture that makes Paso different, the mentors who made time for them, the challenge of finding your own voice without rejecting your influences, and what it takes to build a premium wine brand when the day job is still paying the bills. IIWII Wines: https://www.iiwiiwines.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iiwii_wines • Cutbow Wines: https://www.cutbowwine.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutbow_wines 🌐 PASO WINE WIRE Third Annual Paso Robles White Wine Invitational The Paso Robles White Wine Invitational returns Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Rava Wines. What began as a collaboration among seven like-minded wineries has grown into a major Central Coast celebration featuring more than twenty producers. The participating lineup includes Tablas Creek, Union Sacré, Paix Sur Terre, Monochrome, Kinero, Alta Colina, Thacher, Giornata, Villa Creek, and episode guest IIWII Wines. The walk-around tasting includes live music, food available for purchase, and oysters that can be added when making a reservation. Advance tickets are required. 🔗 Event details: https://pasowine.com/member-event/3rd-annual-white-wine-invitational/ Tablas Creek’s Original Nursery Block Is Still Teaching Lessons at 32 Tablas Creek Vineyard is looking back at the original nursery block that helped seed the modern American Rhône movement. The block began with a small number of Rhône cuttings brought into the United States, quarantined, propagated, and eventually distributed to growers throughout the West Coast. At its peak, Tablas Creek was selling hundreds of thousands of vines annually to roughly 600 vineyards. Jason Haas estimates that around 70 percent of the wineries at a typical Rhône Rangers tasting work, at least partly, with material that originally came through Tablas Creek. More than three decades later, those own-rooted vines remain healthy and productive. Their longevity is now raising new questions about what own-rooted Mourvèdre may be capable of under the right conditions. 🔗 Read the story: