Cheers, to English Wines

Wine production in Britain has seen a phenomenal increase in the last 20 years. From 1600 acres of vineyards in the 2000’s to over 10,000 acres today, predicted to double in another 10 years. There were an estimated 1.5 million visits to British wineries in 2023. Westchester, near Stroud, reported 10,000 visits to their vineyard accounting, for 40% of their revenue stream.

Wine buffs have a choice of 897 vineyards and 197 wineries to visit, but where do you start? The vast majority are situated in the south and south east of England in the counties of Kent and Sussex. The geology and climate here is similar to the champagne region of France and ideal for growing grapes that are used in the production of sparkling wines.

At the beginning of November, Blue Badge qualified guide (and lover of wine), Glen Portch took 13 colleagues into the Kent countryside for a day all about wine – a wine recce, if you will.

Westwell Vineyard & Winery

First stop, Westwell vineyard and winery near Charing, located on the south facing, chalky slopes of the North Downs on the Pilgrims Way.

The in-house guided tour was conducted by Jeanette Lithgo, Cellar Door and Production Manager, who obviously loves her job. She went into a lot of detail about growing and managing the vines to produce the best grapes possible.

Harvesting finished a few days before we visited, so no action in the vineyards that day. Alas, 2024 was too wet, particularly in the summer, so yields are down compared to the bumper year of 2023.

The group adjourned to the winery where the main production is for sparkling wines and then the tasting room for the most important part of the tour.

Westwell’s signature product is a classic cuvee called Pelegrim (old English for Pilgrim). A blend of 3 grapes found in ‘champagne’, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunière and Pinot Noir. These 3 grapes make up 70% of total plantings in Britain and almost every winery will do a classic cuvee. In addition, other sparkling wines are made with either different blends or a single grape varietal. Westwell, like other vineyards, will experiment and a new product is an award winning multi- vintage sparkling pinot meunier which the group were privileged taste (only 900 bottles have been produced).

Although 70% of British wine production is sparkling; still wines are produced too. Other white grape varietals grown in Britain include Bacchus, Seyval Blanc and Ortega. Of still wine production in Britain, 68% is White, 17% Rose and 15% Red, which include Rondo and Dornfelder. We sampled a still Chardonnay and a still Ortega, both from a 2023 vintage.

Westwell is a small producer compared to other more well known wineries such as Chapel Down. Larger producers usually have a restaurant with fine dining and that is an option for visitors.

No restaurant at Westwell but they will have pizza evenings in the summer. Other events to attract visitors include an outdoor cinema, a farmers market and even a dog show.

The Kent countryside have some lovely villages so the group took lunch at the Black Horse Public House, in Pluckley, reputedly the most haunted village in Britain. This pub grub is recommended, in particular the hog roast croquettes.

Balfour Winery

After lunch and a visit to the Balfour winery on the Hush Heath estate near Staplehurst. Richard and Leslie Balfour-Lynn bought their 16th-century Manor house in 1986. In 2001 they bought the surrounding 400-acre Hush Heath farm estate that surrounds the house. It was Leslie’s idea to try and make a pink sparkling wine they liked, namely Billecart Salmon Rosé. Five acres were planted in 2002 and in 2004, 10,000 bottles of Balfour Brut Rosé became the first English wine to win a gold medal and trophy at the International Wine Challenge.

Balfour is a considerably bigger operation than Westwell where 200 of the 400 acres is under vine. It has additional vineyards in other parts of Kent. A larger tasting room, shop, restaurant and dining room. Balfour too offer tours, tutored tastings and dining options. There is a self-guided walk around the vineyard, orchard and wood where you may see fallow deer and even buzzards. There’s also an option for a self-tutored tasting, not just their wines but also their own ciders, a lager and an ipa, all made on site.

A little behind on the schedule, we skipped the vineyard walk and went straight for the tasting. Balfour’s signature product is the Brut Rose, again, made from the three traditional champagne varietals. We sampled a blanc de noir, a white sparkling wine from a blend of the two black grapes, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

As with Westwell and other vineyards, Balfour tried something new and that was to plant Albariño. A white grape mostly seen in Gallica region of Spain and north Portugal. Certainly the first time Balfour planted it, and probably the first time planted in the UK for commercial production. Mixed opinions on the Albariño but everyone agreed the brut rose was very good.

One reason for choosing the vineyards on this tour was to sample wines grown on different soil types. The chalky slopes of the north downs at Westwell, compared to the clay soils in Weald at Balfour. Cost was also a factor. Almost all wineries will offer tours and cost per person varies significantly. The larger, more well known wineries such as Balfour, Chapel Down and, soon to open, Domain Evremond, will charge more than the smaller wineries.

For visitors wishing to do a full day wine tour with 2 (and possibly 3) wineries, we wouldn’t reccommend doing a full in-house tour at each winery. Some of the larger producers, such as Balfour, permit you to walk freely through the vineyards and after a stroll, sampling in the tasting room.

There is always the option of combining a wine tour with visiting places of interest close to a winery. For example, a half day at Westwell can be combined with a visit to Canterbury or you could combine a visit to Balfour with Leeds Castle. In addition, excursions from Dover Cruise Ship Terminal can incorporate any number of Kentish vineyards. If visitors’ cruise ship is docking into Southampton, then why not visit Hambledon, England’s oldest commercial vineyard, established in 1952. If visitors would just like a sample rather than a full wine tour,  some wineries have a cellar door where you can pop in for a sample or two. You can combine a visit to Dover and Canterbury with  a brief visit to Barnsole. Tour permutations are numerous but the wine is always delectable!

 

About the Author

Glen is an expert London Blue Badge Tourist Guide. He offers tours of London and Great Britain for individuals, small or large groups. With oodles of 5 star TripAdvisor reviews, Glen Portch has guided families, travellers, school groups, A-list celebrities and presidents of multi-national companies. Meet Glen here