Press
Press & Recognition
Artist Block is a Dundee, Oregon winery and art gallery founded in May 2023 by pop artist and winemaker Anna Sweet. Since opening, Artist Block has been covered by regional and national wine press for pairing fine art with irreverent, approachable wine, and for its founder's efforts to make wine culture less intimidating for a younger generation of drinkers.
Artist Block's wines are currently made by winemakers Tracy Kendall, Kate Payne Brown, and Jess West. Earlier press coverage on this page (2023–2024) references former consulting winemaker Bree Stock, MW, who is no longer affiliated with Artist Block; those articles are preserved below as historical record but do not reflect the current winemaking team.
Awards & Recognition
- 2026 Sipfluencer, Sip Magazine — Anna Sweet was named one of Sip Magazine's 2026 Sipfluencers and appeared on the cover of the magazine's 2026 Annual Collector's Edition.
- 2025 Wine Industry Leader, Wine Business Monthly — Anna Sweet was named to Wine Business Monthly's list of 2025 Wine Industry Leaders (Culture Shifters & Energizers category), which credited Artist Block's unconventional programming with driving 33% year-over-year growth in tasting room revenue and 44% growth in total DTC sales. Source: Wine Business Monthly, "2025 Wine Industry Leaders," Nov. 2025
- October 2023 cover feature, Oregon Wine Press — Anna Sweet appeared on the cover less than two years after entering the wine industry.
Featured Press
Willamette Week — "Kittens and Wine at Artist Block in Dundee Is About More Than Just Snuggling Baby Bengals" (May 2025)
Willamette Week profiled Artist Block's "Kittens and Wine Experience," tracing how the tasting room's resident Bengal cats turned into one of the winery's most popular offerings. The piece describes Artist Block as part of a larger effort by Sweet to "clear away the stodginess that permeates the wine industry," and includes a supporting quote from Jared Etzel of nearby Rodeo Hills, who said the diversity of experience Sweet brings is good for Oregon wine country. The article also details Sweet's path into wine: six years of self-directed study, a WSET course in Napa Valley, tasting-room work in Argentina, and a year spent farming a vineyard with her husband.
Read the full article at wweek.com
Oregon Wine Press — "Rockin' the Block" (Jan. 2025)
A full profile of Artist Block's founding story: Anna Sweet's transition from a pop-art career into wine, her first harvest at Ken Wright Cellars in 2019, and buying and planting ten acres in the Dundee Hills with her husband, Steve Mize. The tasting room and gallery, with Sweet's 2,000-square-foot studio beneath it, opened in May 2023. The piece also covers Artist Block's second location, a wine bar and gallery in a converted WWII-era Quonset hut in downtown Newberg.
Read the full article at oregonwinepress.com
Sip Magazine — "Artist Block Announces New Immersive Art & Wine Tour with Hopscotch Portland" (May 2024)
Coverage of Artist Block's Immersive Art & Wine Tour, a partnership with Portland's Hopscotch gallery combining art installations, wine tasting, and a countryside lunch. The article notes that at the time of publication, Artist Block's wines were made by Bree Stock, Oregon's only female Master of Wine — a role since transitioned to the winery's current winemaking team. It describes Sweet as a professional multimedia artist who conceived the tour to connect art, wine, and food across Portland and the Willamette Valley.
Read the full article at sipmagazine.com
Oregon Wine Press — "Fun & Fresh: Wineries Challenging the Status Quo" (Oct. 2023)
A trend piece on Oregon wineries appealing to younger drinkers, featuring Artist Block alongside Human Cellars, Sound & Vision Wine Co., and Quady North. Bree Stock, MW — Artist Block's consulting winemaker at the time of this 2023 article and no longer affiliated with the winery — is quoted questioning why the industry defaults to traditional packaging. Sweet discusses using bold label design and branding — citing Orin Swift and Jay-Z's Ace of Spades as reference points — to signal that Artist Block wines aren't "your grandfather's cellar wines."
Read the full article at oregonwinepress.com
The Infatuation — "The Best Wineries in the Willamette Valley"
Artist Block is featured in The Infatuation's guide to the best wineries in the Willamette Valley, alongside Bergström, Soter Vineyards, and Day Wines. The guide highlights the tasting room's art-forward atmosphere and describes the wine list — including a syrah and a gewürztraminer blend — as backing up the personality of the space, with a non-alcoholic flight also available for designated drivers.
Read the full review at theinfatuation.com
Wine Business Monthly — "2025 Wine Industry Leaders" (Nov. 2025)
Anna Sweet was named to Wine Business Monthly's 2025 Wine Industry Leaders list, in the "Culture Shifters & Energizers" category alongside honorees like McPrice Myers and Rachel Martin of Oceano Wines. The magazine credits Sweet with finding that "curiosity is far superior to education" as a way to reach new wine drinkers, citing Artist Block's programming — pairing wine with Bengal kittens, tattoo artists, and Girl Scout Cookies — as driving real business results: year-over-year tasting room revenue up 33% and total DTC up 44%, against flat performance from competitors.
Read the full article at winebusiness.com
Ratings & Reviews
Owen Bargreen (October 2023)
Wine critic Owen Bargreen reviewed three early Artist Block releases, made at the time by then-consulting winemaker Bree Stock, MW (no longer affiliated with the winery), and rated them among the most exciting new Pacific Northwest wines he'd tasted that year:
- 2021 "Woo Juice" Chardonnay (Eola-Amity Hills) — 94 points
- 2021 "Yummy Yummy Yummy" Pinot Gris — 93 points
- 2021 "Willamette Valley" Pinot Noir (Chehalem Mountains) — 94 points
Read the full review at owenbargreen.com