Artelium, Pinot Gris, East Sussex, England, 2023

Producer Profile

Curators, collaborators and custodians of English wine making, art and nature, Artelium is a boutique estate in the heart of the East Sussex countryside crafting exceptional English still and sparkling wines.

Founded by Mark Collins and Julie Bretland in 2020, the name Artelium comes from a combination of ‘Art’ and ‘- ium’, a Latin suffix used to denote places where people congregate. In that sense, Artelium is the embodiment of a long-held vision to create a space for people to come together and enjoy wine and art in a beautiful natural setting. The area around their East Sussex home has a proud heritage of artisans, which Mark and Julie wanted to celebrate by being a hub for artistic expression and innovative winemaking. Artelium sees each vintage as an opportunity to create pioneering styles of wine that will shape the future of the industry, using both their own grapes and collaborating with other growers. Mark leads the wine team supported by Owen Elias (one of the UK’s most respected and renowned winemakers and recent addition to the team, South African Solly Monyamane.

Viticulture

The Sussex vineyards that the Pinot Gris is grown on sits on clay loam and chalk, pruned in a guyot style.

Winemaking

The grapes are crushed and pressed as two separate parcels and fermented in one vessel, enabling the characters of different sites to marry. The wine initially fermented at a high temperature, giving the wine a more oily and fatter texture. Fermentation lasted 21 days and once fermented the wine is left to rest on gross lees for 6 months. During this period, the wine goes through battonage twice a month, before filtering and bottling. to better define and extract flavour from lees and to find balance between acid/texture balance on the palate, filtered and bottled.

Oak Ageing

No oak ageing

Tasting Note

An inviting nose of pear, fresh pollen and subtle tropical fruits; mango and banana. Palate follows, medium-bodied and gently creamy textured with refreshing acidity. Long complex, fruit-filled finish. Easy drinking but layers of complex fruit notes, baked apple.

Food Matching

Ideal with flavourful salads and meaty fish such as fresh mackerel and tuna steaks. The wine's creamy texture harmonises with natural oils, while a line of acidity keeps the palate refreshed.