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Artiste - CLOSED
Categories: Nightlife Bars Wine Bars Arts & Entertainment Wineries Food Wineries Arts & Entertainment Art Galleries Shopping Art Galleries Wine Bars, Wineries, Art Galleries [Edit]
3569 Sagunto StSanta Ynez, CA 93460
(805) 686-2626
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Best Nights:
- Mon, Tue, Wed
- Coat Check:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
19 reviews for Artiste
19 reviews in English
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Review from Nicole A.
San Francisco, CA
7/30/2007
I used to be a member of Artiste but had to end my membership due to an impending move and job search. But oh how did I love being a member - both at the times when I was in the mood to spend a pleasant day in the valley and at the times when I was ready to get wasted under the guise of the "dignified" pursuit of wine tasting. Here are the factors that will appeal to both sets:
Pleasant day in the valley:
- It is a nice step away from the vistas of vineyards most other wineries boast in the area
- The tasting room is large and has beautiful artwork
- The staff are knowledgeable
- The wine maker approaches wine as an artistic endeavor, thus blending wines to make unique tastes
- Heavy emphasis on reds
- Autumn Ride and Secret Passage are TO DIE FOR, but were made a couple years ago and in limited quantities so they are probably an arm and a leg now
- The bottles are adorned by artwork from artists and thus named after the piece
- A local young artist paints with wine and has been featured in the Wine Spectator as one of the few individuals who does so in the world(and she's so talented)
When you're on a wine tasting bender:
- Artiste stays open an hour longer than most other tasting rooms
- It is free (or at least used to be) if you go to Sunstone first and bring your glass
- Drawing and painting in the tasting room is fun to do with a wine buzz
- The antique store next door has all kind of crazy stuff to stare at
- The tasting room staff are young
- It is within walking distance to the Maverick, which is quite possibly my most favorite bar in the world
And, well, I think I've made my point. Maybe now that I have re-secured a regular paycheck I should look into a membership again...... -
Review from Sandy T.
7/30/2009
Artiste how I love thee.
A year of being a wine club member and you have made mama proud. Every bottle has been a conversation piece at a dinner party, bday bash or wherever you were taken. The unique artwork labels and the small giclee (sp?) that comes along with the shipment are worth my attention. Even better, I love that I can count on the wine inside the bottle. I open it, and everyone swoons.
Thank you for being such a great friend.
p.s.The Port is a hidden gem. -
Review from Jack M.
Boston, MA
8/25/2009
This place was my least-favorite of all the wine tasting rooms I've been to.
Their gimmick is that they have all this fancy shmancy art on the walls, and a "painters" theme to their bottles. Guests can do a quick paint on a giant pad of paper if you feel so inclined.
Cute place - crummy wines. Neither I nor any of my guests liked anything here. Extra star for character and presentation of the joint, but I'll never go here again. Much better places around.... -
Review from Serina T.
Northridge, CA
3/31/2008
This was our second stop on our wine tour. It's actually located in the quaint little town of Santa Ynez. It's very cute...inside it's like an art gallery with paintings adorning the walls. They have a very nice outdoor patio where you can enjoy your tastings.
It costs $10 for 5 tastings. The wines are very complex and slightly on the spicier side. They don't use the automatic pourers like most places but give you a hand pour. So if you're lucky most of the pours are very generous, hehe. The wines are not bad but way too pricey for what it was. Bottles were about $40 or so.
The coolest thing about this place is they use local art for their labels. They actually pick the artwork first and then build their wines around it. You can purchase prints of the artwork too.
They have a canvas and paint available for you to use...it was really fun to paint while you're buzzed. Definitely recommend coming here if you want something different to try out. -
Review from Katie W.
Newport Beach, CA
12/6/2009
After waiting for about ten minutes to be greeted by the owner (pretty frustrating considering there was no one else in the joint), I enjoyed a quiet early afternoon tasting at Artiste.
The outside sitting area was peaceful and quaint. I preferred sitting outside as the interior was heavily decorated with local art. It's not that I'm opposed to this, but it made for a more "stuffy" and "Oh we are so very into art" type of setting.
The tasting was $10 and included 5 different wines - all of which were good. I ended up purchasing a bottle of the "One Love" blend (they refund the tasting fee when you buy a bottle, so it's totally worth it).
I wouldn't go for the staff interaction - considering there was practically zero involvement or engagement on their part. -
Review from A to the C.
San Francisco, CA
1/17/2007
Ivana covered most of the main points with this tasting room and all of it's charm. I would like to add that they have both prints and originals done by a local artist who paints in wine. They are gorgeous, and a nice 5x8 makes a great gift or momento.
I found their wines to be very enjoyable. Many are heavy blends with a variety of different grapes to create some original flavors. I walked away with the Impressionist Rose. The bottles range in price from $22 to $50, most of which are in the $30 to $40 range.
Instead of handing out labels, they will provide you with a blank label that you can paint and decorate yourself. Another great memory of your experience. Loved It!
A fun stop in the St. Ynez!Listed in: So You're In Santa Ynez?
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Review from W L.
Los Angeles, CA
1/29/2009 8 photos
Artiste specializes in blends and labels of actual paintings by artists (derrrr).
we enjoyed a flight by two gals who are enthusiastic about wine (though a bit beat up from the previous night's heavy drinking soiree.
my favorite was LeBecSucre. the impression was a port but it's 67% tempranillo and 33% syrah.
Cafe Noir was pretty good too. the impression was bandol - a 39% mourvedre, 38% grenache and 23% syrah.
another neat thing to note about this place is that you can paint on their canvas - though very third grade, maybe one day your painting will appear on one of their labels!
see pics! -
Review from Tina-Marie L.
Whittier, CA
7/27/2009
Artiste is a very cool winery that has wonderful art work all around. The cool thing is that many of the pieces are also on the labels of the wine. Their tasting room is made up of four rooms. The front was where they had large pieces to exhibit and is now closed, the middle is where they did tastings, the third is where you can check out more artwork and draw and pick up some bottles. The fourth was closed but is going to be a special room for wine club members. The only reason I know this is because there were two ladies, who appeared to frequent this winery, that were questioning why the front was no longer open. The guy working there was a bit harsh in his answers telling them that they didn't need it and it was because of the economy. (Note to self: Don't ask that dude any questions!)
The girl that worked there was really sweet and talkative. We spoke of wine and weddings and who knows what else. (Remember, this was my fourth winery... in a row!)
Hubby and I both enjoyed a wine called Finding Romance. Artiste specializes in wine blends. Finding Romance is 47% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon fron Santa Ynez, 15% Nebbiolo from Santa Ynez, 17% Syrah from Paso Robles and 11% Syrah from Santa Ynez. Yummy!
Even though they have to pay the artists for their artwork, their bottles are reasonably priced. :) -
Review from Sally L.
Tampa, FL
12/3/2008 4 photos
At $10 for 5 tastings of super super delicious spicy tasty wine with generous hand pours (oddly, I'm not just copying Serina's review, I was actually thinking this to myself after finishing here), I can't see NOT returning to Artiste!
I loved their wine so much that I'm dying to join the club, but shipping to Florida just doesn't really seem worth it. They're a little on the pricey side, too, which doesn't help for a starving recent college grad.
The tasting 'studio' is beautiful, with wine-painted art all over the walls; you can paint your own painting, too. I like the idea of the Blend Your Own Wine... but I'm not sure it's something an amateur should try their hand at. I'm somewhat skeptical of my ability to mix things like wine.
I wish I still lived in California so I could go back again & again. Rest assured that I'll be returning next time I'm back to visit my wine-loving mom. -
Review from naureen z.
Los Angeles, CA
9/27/2009
Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Wine is great, and the tasting room is also an art gallery. You can walk around with your wine, peruse the art, and create your own if you wish. I stop here every time I'm in Santa Ynez!!!!
Forget those stuffy vineyards!!! Artiste will even pour extra tastings, if you wanted to revisit one...or two. ;) -
Review from Lou. R.
Burbank, CA
3/9/2007
What a great find!!!
A Slovang local told to me to visit this place.
I was a little apprehensive but I am very glad I took the time in visiting this place. A warm staff and beautiful show pieces throughout the place.
A bonus of the Artiste, is you can have the opportunity to paint, draw or sketch your own label of their wine you buy.
I will differently return there! -
Review from Chris G.
7/25/2008
Artiste is the sister winery to Sunstone. Walking in here you see the wonderful art work all around. I met Cyndi who is the Art Director and also assisted in the tasting. She has a great personality and passionate about art. We talked about various art as we were drinking wine. One very cool thing is you can even create you own painting on one of their easel. Cyndi told us about some artwork by Christina Locasio who paints with red wine. I actually ended up meeting Christina who was a pleasure and gave me one of her friend's books. I had a print of hers shipped home. I really liked a lot of her art work and hope to purchase some orginals in the future.
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Review from M P.
San Diego, CA
4/7/2010
I liked it here, but the wine is out of my price range. I imagine these are fun bottles to buy and gift, since their labels are all "paintings." It's pretty cool and unusual.
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Review from Richard K.
Manhattan Beach, CA
9/14/2007
We were looking for some new stops on a recent visit to the valley, and ran into a guy that highly recommended Artiste. This location in Santa Ynez is another great place to visit. The wines are very great, but a little on the pricey side.
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Review from Carmen I.
San Diego, CA
2/19/2008
At Artiste, the tasting room was quaint. They sell their wines along with art work from various artists. Some of the them are commissioned to make the artwork for their bottles. Very cool. Also it was nice to see that they use wax to seal their bottles as opposed to foil. Nice throw back.
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Review from Sarah F.
North Hollywood, CA
6/4/2008
Artiste is the most unique and by far the most entertaining wine tasting rooms in all of SB wine country. The inside is beautiful, colorful and reminiscent of an artist studio. It includes an art gallery, a couple of plush couches and chairs, coffee tables covered in art books and community sketch pads. There is also a little garden courtyard and my favorite aspect, the painting easels. It's fun to watch others paint and even give it a shot yourself.
The wines are very unique and are all blends which are created in conjunction with the original art work that adorns the wine bottles. When I went, there was 1 white blend and about 4 or 5 red blends. The wine was delicious, but I'm partial to red blends. However, the bottle price was very expensive. I usually take a bottle home for memories, but instead I passed on the $50 bottle of wine and painted myself a picture instead.
The staff was nice and didn't mind us wondering around and really taking our time enjoying the wine and the unique surroundings. The wine tasting here is a total experience that includes great wine, a wonderful setting and all of the artsy entertainment that you can create. -
Review from Yvonne T.
Temecula, CA
4/11/2007 2 photos
A very unique place to taste wine. Our Cloud Climbers tour guide brought us here because we enjoy blends, and that's exactly what they have here. The wines were very nice, but a bit pricey for my budget. I really liked wandering around, looking at the artwork while sipping away. There were some really cool pieces that were painted entirely with red wine. Also, our pourer was very sweet, taking pictures with us and just friendly overall.
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Review from esther s.
Los Angeles, CA
5/15/2007
A unique experience for wine tasters, this was my favorite wine tasting experience at the wineries near Santa Barbara. Most are attracted to the Sideways movie route - which are also quaint and fun wineries as well - so this one could be overlooked. They have a very unique way of making wines, which involves a commissioned artist who works with the winemaker to create a flavor and image that reflect one another. This gives each of thier mixed wines a special personality. The lables are prints of the inspired artworks so if purchased they are display worthy. The artist works are amazing, mostly impressionistic and each artist has a distinct feel and style. The interior doubles as an art gallery and with the jazz floating in background, cafe style sofas and painting stations for guests to make thier own artwork, it is truly an interactive experience. They also hold exhibitions. I had the truly inspiring time there and took away great conversations, wines and my own painting.
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Review from Ivana I.
Los Angeles, CA
5/11/2006 1 photo
Another tasting venue hit on the central California coast, but found in the most unlikely of places... not nestled among rows of grapevines, but on the main street of little, historic Santa Ynez. You step inside and are transported to an artist's studio inspired by Hotel Baudy in Giverny, France, where the likes of Monet, Metcalf, and Cezanne found inspiration and once resided. Following a tasting, you're welcome to express yourself on any of the community canvases delicately scattered about... nothing like using an easel when you've got a good buzz going on. Artiste wines are labeled with gorgeous works of impressionist art, each named after the title of the painting that graces the bottle. The wines are limited productions of less than 300 cases each, and what can I say, they make quite the unique gift. There's one problem: the heavy wax ceremoniously draped over the cork is a struggle to remove. There's a trick to it though, which I've--quite regretfully--forgotten....
