Cutbow Wines started as a happy accident. Taylor and Emma Mathiesen made their first wine almost by dare, out of leftover fruit from a friend, and liked it enough to keep going. The name comes from fly fishing, from the Cutbow, a hybrid trout that is part rainbow and part cutthroat, the kind of detail that tells you everything about the brand. These are wines made by people who would rather be on a river or in a vineyard than behind a desk, and that easy, outdoor spirit runs straight through the glass.

A happy accident, then a brand

The Cutbow story begins with extra fruit. Taylor and Emma Mathiesen received some surplus grapes from a friend and mentor, Bret Urness of Levo Vineyard, who encouraged them to make a wine using protocols that were even unfamiliar to him, to experiment and see what happened. The result was good enough that Urness pushed them to start their own brand. They felt honored, took the leap, and Cutbow was born.

The name is pure Taylor. He spent the first part of his life in Idaho, where his grandfather taught him to fly fish on legendary rivers like the Snake and the Madison, waters that hold the Cutbow trout, a cross between rainbow and cutthroat. The brand carries that outdoor, adventure-first sensibility throughout, captured in their own line about the wines being crafted to celebrate the adventure, whatever the adventure may be. It is wine made by people for whom the vineyard and the river are the same kind of place.

The first Cutbow wine was an experiment with borrowed fruit and unfamiliar methods. The couple liked it enough to build a whole label around the surprise.

Tin City and a search for soulful sites

Cutbow pours in Tin City, the district of metal-clad buildings just south of downtown Paso Robles where many of the regions most independent young producers make and sell their wine. There are no estate vines here. Tin City is a working production and tasting zone, and the appeal is the directness: you taste the wine where it is made, often with the makers themselves nearby.

Rather than farm one estate, the Mathiesens seek out vineyards and fruit sources they consider special, places with soul and purpose, and growers whose philosophy matches their own. The wines are made as vineyard designates, each meant to stand alone in the bottle as an honest expression of a single site. That approach lets a small, young label range across the diverse soils and microclimates of the Central Coast, from warmer Paso ground to cooler coastal vineyards, choosing the site that best suits each grape.

The wines: Rhone-leaning and easy to love

Cutbow leans Rhone, with Grenache and Syrah at the heart of the red lineup, alongside a Chardonnay and a Rose that round out the range for the table and the porch. The house description fits the wines exactly: serious yet unintimidating, fun yet intellectual. These are not bottles built to impress a critic, they are built to be opened and enjoyed, while still rewarding anyone who wants to pay closer attention.

The Grenache and Syrah show the warm, spicy, red-and-black-fruited character those grapes give on the Central Coast, the Chardonnay aims for freshness over heavy oak, and the Rose is made for warm afternoons. Because the wines are vineyard designates made in small quantities, the lineup rewards tasting through whatever is currently open and finding the site and style that speaks to you.

What to pour it with

The Rhone reds are some of the most food-flexible wines you can pour. Syrah, with its pepper and savory edge, was made for grilled lamb, sausage and anything with herbs and char, meeting the smoke and spice of the grill on its own terms. Grenache, softer and brighter, loves roast chicken, pork and dishes with a little sweetness or spice, its red fruit and gentle tannin keeping the match easy rather than heavy.

The Chardonnay, kept fresh and lively, has the acidity to cut through butter and cream, so think grilled fish, a lemony roast chicken or anything fried, where the wine resets your palate between bites. The Rose is the easy outdoor wine, happy with salads, charcuterie, grilled vegetables and a sunny afternoon. Across the board, Cutbow wines want food and company more than ceremony.

Cutbow Wines: common questions