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YPP Client Spotlight - Artiste

Impressionist Winery & Tasting Studio

When you first step into Artiste you experience the feeling that you have just stepped back in time to an old world art salon. The shop has great open spaces and a casual feel that invites conversation and reflection. The displays of both the wine and the art are interwoven because the wine is the art and the art is the wine. While at first blush this appears to be a wine tasting room it is actually a Wine Club with a working art salon complete with sketchpads, canvas and paints at the ready should artistic inspiration strike.

The passion and entrepreneurial spirit of Artiste Winery’s Bion Rice is infectious as he talks about his business, his wine, and his art. Bion has a unique understanding of the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into the winemaking process and loves to share this. He infuses a love of art into his stores, his life and even the labels of his wine bottles!

Artiste winery was launched in 2003 in Santa Ynez. Like any great business, there was a strong team put together to make Artiste a successful and viable business. While making wine at his family’s winery Sunstone, Bion found a mentor and consultant in Daniel Gerhs, for his winemaking. On the business side he partnered with Tom O’Higgins, a retired executive of William Sonoma, John Poulos , a retired executive of Amgen, and Matt Hahn who serves as his creative director. Artiste then reached out beyond its internal operations and engaged professionals in many different fields including Your People Professionals for Human Resources Management and Vinlogic as their shipping compliance service.

Top Picture: Artiste in Santa Ynez 2007, Bottom Picture: Inspiration for Artiste, the artist salon in the Hotel Baudy circa the 1870's in Giverny, France.

Aesthetically the store is based on the Hotel Baudy in Giverny, France. Giverny was home to Claude Monet for over 40 years and many of his most famous paintings were done of his gardens there. During Monet’s time the Hotel Baudy became a center for artistic life in the region. Artiste’s painters work in the Impressionist style and Bion features his artists on his bottles, in the Tasting Studio and at his events that revolve around –naturally- wine and art. Artiste really captures that kind of indescribable feel of artistry, community, and freedom you won’t find in other establishments. As you look at the 1870’s picture of the Artist Salon and then gaze at the store you can feel the connection created by the vision and hard work of Bion and his team.

Bion grew up in the wine industry working for his parent’s business, Sunstone Winery. He has a deep knowledge of the traditions, mixing, and marketing of wine and that has helped him grow from an undercapitalized start up into a successful business with a second location in Sonoma scheduled to open in March 2008 followed shortly thereafter in Laguna Beach.

Artiste currently features the work of 8 artists. They create art for the Winery and the names of their paintings become the names of the wines. On his current wine list you’ll find wines with names like Tango, Sunny, Illumine’, and Kind of Blue. Artiste’s labeling strategy allows his business to comply with the highly complex naming rules involved in the wine industry and present the finest wines to the market that are based on great wines from around the world.

Wine has often been cited as an inspiration for art but one of his artists, Christina LoCasio, even paints using wine! She is the resident artist at Artiste and has created quite a following for her paintings that use different wines and wine reductions to create paintings with a diverse palette of purples and earthy browns. You can see her work featured on the wine ‘Encore,’ a Gold Medal winner at the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.

While most of the artistic focus is on the paintings that adorn Artiste’s bottles, there is a great deal of artistry within those bottles as well. In the US wine is based on the grape and the region, in Europe it is based on the house that mixed the wine. Bion matches different wines from different growing regions in California to create robust, complex and delicious new creations unlike anything you’ll see in the domestic market.

Thanks to the buzz created by Artiste’s unique wines and philosophy, Bion ships his wine all over the country, and figures at least 20% of his business comes from outside of California. Artiste has been featured in many print publications and on the Food Networks “Giada’s Weekend Getaways.” If you enjoy a great get away, put Artiste on your wine country wish list.

Artiste’s Tasting Studio is located at 3569 Sagunto Street, Studio 102, Historie Old Santa Ynez, CA and is open 11:00am to 5:00pm daily. For more information visit Artiste online at www.artiste.com or call 805-686-2626.

Artiste's Bion Rice in the Wine Cellar	Some of the Wines offered by Artiste
Cafe St. Tropez by Christina LoCasio, painted with Wine