Wandering down the main street in Santa Ynez, you may be lucky enough to stumble upon a unique wine-tasting experience. Tucked into a historic wood-frame building is Artiste, a unique tasting room and art studio. What visitors find inside are not only unique “cuvee-style” wines to taste but easels, paint, and community canvases on which they can express themselves. Blank wine labels are even available that visitors can paint and affix to one of the bottled wines available.

Styled after a working art studio during the impressionist period of the 1870s, the tasting room/art studio/gallery is a pleasant and inviting space with tall ceilings, large windows, drop cloths and lots of activity. Each wine is made from a blend of various grapes and vintages from the local area and from other wineries’ finished products. The winemaker first selects the various “cuvees,” then prepares the unique blends. The wine label showcases one of a number of accomplished artists’ recent works, which then shares its title with the wine. Vibrant, stunning and moving, the labels are expressive works of imagination.

Artiste’s limited-release wines are available only in selected restaurants and in the tasting room. Varietals used in their blends include Viognier, Grenache, Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.