Santa Ynez, California is a nice place to visit, for good food, wine and ... art!
While I was passing through in August, I visited Artiste which is both a wine tasting room and an art gallery. The first thing I noticed when I entered, aside from the numerous paintings on the walls, was the music: John Coltrane's Blues album!
The idea behind Artiste was inspired by the impressionist painters in Giverny. Each wine is a unique creation made of a blend of some of the many grapes that grow all over California. Each blend produced is limited to less than 300 cases.
Bion Rice (photo at right) explained to me that each year he looks for exceptional California grapes. Like an impressionist artist mixing colors on a palette, Bion fuses a balance of wines together to compose neo-classical blends he refers to as "impressionist cuvées".
The labels of Artiste wines are original works of art (see photos below). Many of the paintings are hung in the tasting room. There's also an easel and brushes where visitors can paint their own impressions.
Christina LoCascio, Artiste’s resident artist, literally paints with wine on paper. In the photo below, her work is seen on the label at the right, Torretta. (Artiste wines are named after the painting on the label.) The bottles, rather than sporting regular capsules, have a wax seal over the cork.
The shape and colors of the wax augments the impressionist look and feel of each bottle.
You can learn more about Artiste at their web site, but here's my own impression: This is a wonderful place to visit, taste and enjoy wine and art. The Artiste gallery has not only art to admire but also a selection of
branded chocolates, artwork prints, books and even wearables like
aprons, T-shirts and jackets, so I also think it is a safe bet for spouses who are not particularly interested in wine and even kids (from about age 7 and up) who may like to grab a brush and paint.
