Balfour vineyard walk and tasting
A walk through the vines at Hush Heath, home of Balfour, and a tasting of three of their wines.
Starts Balfour Winery, Staplehurst, Kent
Kent Wine Tours / Vineyards / Balfour
Vineyard guide · Staplehurst
Visiting Balfour at Hush Heath
Balfour Winery is on the 400-acre Hush Heath Estate near Staplehurst, the home of Balfour Brut Rosé. It opens every day, with a free estate walk, tours, tastings and a restaurant, and a free weekend shuttle from Marden station.
Balfour at a glance
| Founded | Planted 2002 |
|---|---|
| Known for | Balfour Brut Rosé, plus still wines including Bacchus |
| Open | Daily, 10am to 6pm, to 10.30pm Thursday to Saturday |
| Booking | Book tours, tastings and dinner, the estate walk needs no booking |
| Tours from | Free estate walk, self-tutored tasting £15, tutored tasting from £40 |
| Food | The Winemakers’ Kitchen restaurant, plus Cellar Door platters and flatbreads |
| Children | Not on tours or in the winery, tastings 18 and over |
| By train | Marden (free shuttle at weekends) or Staplehurst |
Checked on the vineyard’s own website in October 2026.
About Balfour
Hush Heath has been in the Balfour-Lynn family for three generations. Leslie Balfour-Lynn bought the 400 acres of farmland attached to the estate and, with her husband Richard, planted five acres of vines in 2002 with the aim of making a pink sparkling wine as good as their favourite rosé Champagne. The first harvest, in 2004, made 10,000 bottles of Balfour Brut Rosé, and in 2007 it became the first English wine to win a gold medal and a trophy at the International Wine Challenge. It was later the first English sparkling wine served in British Airways First Class and was poured at the London 2012 Olympics.
The winery and tasting room opened on the estate in 2010 and were greatly expanded in 2018. Balfour now makes more than 400,000 bottles of still and sparkling wine a year, along with beer and cider. Owen Elias, six times UK Winemaker of the Year, has made the wine since the first vintage, now working with his son Fergus as head winemaker. The Turner family, whose relatives looked after Hush Heath when it was a working farm, manage the estate.
The estate is a Tudor property of vineyards, apple orchards, wildflower meadows and ancient oak woodland, home to barn owls, fallow deer and buzzards. More than half of Balfour’s vineyards are on the estate itself, on Wealden clay, and these supply the single-vineyard wines including the Brut Rosé. The rest are planted for Balfour by grower partners elsewhere in Kent, on greensand and chalk. In 2026 Balfour’s Liberty’s Bacchus 2025 was named Best Still White (not Chardonnay) at the WineGB Awards.
The wines
Balfour makes traditional-method sparkling wines and a growing range of still wines. Its flagship is Balfour Brut Rosé, a single-vineyard vintage wine from the estate, and the vintage sparkling collection is all single-vineyard. Leslie’s Reserve is a non-vintage sparkling range that includes Gold, Brut, Rosé and a Sparkling Red. Still wines include Liberty’s Bacchus, named Best Still White (not Chardonnay) at the 2026 WineGB Awards, and the limited Winemakers’ Collection has labels by commissioned artists. The house style is clean, fresh and precise. Where to buy them.
Tours and tastings at Balfour
Balfour is open every day of the year, from 10am to 6pm Sunday to Wednesday and until 10.30pm Thursday to Saturday, and on Christmas Day by booking only. The free self-guided estate walk runs from 10am to 5pm, but the vines occasionally close for spraying, so phone on the day. The Cellar Door has a wine shop, serves platters and flatbreads from 12pm to 4pm and offers a bookable self-tutored tasting from £15. Upstairs, the Winemakers’ Kitchen serves lunch daily and dinner on Friday and Saturday, and walk-ins are accepted for lunch, though booking is recommended. The restaurant is reached by stairs only; the tasting room, Cellar Door and toilets are accessible. Tours run in all weathers.
| Experience | Price | Length | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Guided Tour Collect a map from the Cellar Door and follow one of two routes through the vineyards, orchards, meadows and oak woodland. Check in with the team before going into the vines. | Free | At your own pace | Daily, 10am to 5pm, no booking |
| Tutored Wine Tasting A guided tasting of six Balfour wines. | £40 Monday to Thursday, £45 Friday to Sunday | 1 hour | Monday to Thursday 2pm; Friday and Saturday 12pm, 2pm and 5.30pm; Sunday 12pm and 2pm |
| Tour and Tasting A guided walk through the vineyards, orchards and woodland, then a tutored tasting of six wines. At weekends it also goes through the winery, subject to harvest. | £50 Monday to Thursday, £70 Friday to Sunday | 2 hours | Monday to Thursday 11am; Friday to Sunday 10.30am or 1.30pm |
| Tour, Tasting and Sharing Platters A vineyard tour and a tasting of three wines, followed by a sharing platter of local cheese and charcuterie. | £60 per person | – | Monday to Thursday, November to March |
| Winemakers’ Kitchen Lunch and Tutored Wine Tasting A guided tasting of four wines, then a two-course set lunch in the Winemakers’ Kitchen. | £70 per person | About 3 hours (12pm to 3pm) | Monday to Wednesday |
| Wine and Dine Experience Transfers from Marden station, a tour including parts of the estate not on other tours, a winery visit, a six-wine tasting and a three-course lunch with wine pairings. Up to 16 people. | £190 per person | 11am to 4.30pm | Thursday to Sunday |
Book these on the Balfour website.
Tours that include Balfour
If you would rather not drive, these tours take you there, with tastings included.
Where to stay
The George Hotel
Dating back to around 1300, The George is a Grade II listed coaching inn with 12 individually designed en suite bedrooms.
The Queen’s Inn
A countryside hotel and restaurant on the Rye Road at Hawkhurst.
The White Lion
A Grade II listed pub on Tenterden High Street with oak beams and 14 bedrooms above the bar.
Prices are often the same either way, so compare the booking site with booking direct.
Buy Balfour wines
3 bottles in stock with our wine partners this week. Prices are for a single 75cl bottle.
Sparkling
Balfour Classic Cuvée
An approachable traditional-method blend with at least a year on lees, tasting of lemon and crisp apple.
£29.50at The Great Wine Co.BuySparkling rosé
Balfour Brut Rosé 2017
A single-vineyard pink fizz from Oast House Meadow, blending Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier.
£38.99at WinebuyersBuyRed
Balfour The Red Miller 2018
A rare still red made entirely from Pinot Meunier, with soft tannins, blackberry and raspberry.
£80at The Great Wine Co.Buy
Getting there
Marden is the nearest station, with trains from London Bridge about every half hour, and at weekends a free shuttle bus runs between Marden and the winery with no need to book. On other days there is no taxi rank at Marden, so pre-book a taxi for both journeys. Staplehurst station is also nearby, but the shuttle does not go there. By car there is plenty of free parking, two accessible bays and electric car charging, and Balfour says it is about 45 minutes from London.
Make a day of it
Balfour’s own Winemaker’s Pub is 10 minutes away in Goudhurst, a hilltop village with views over the Weald. Sissinghurst Castle Garden and the town of Cranbrook are a short drive south, and Chapel Down at Tenterden is about half an hour away, so the two can be combined with a car or driver. Marden, Staplehurst and Headcorn are the nearest villages on the railway.
See every vineyard you can visit in our Kent directory. Our other Kent vineyard guides: Chapel Down, Gusbourne, Westwell, Warehorne, Silverhand.
Questions people ask
Do you need to book at Balfour Winery?
Not for the self-guided estate walk, which is free from 10am to 5pm. Tours, tastings, the self-tutored tasting flight and dinner must be booked, and booking is recommended for lunch.
Is there a shuttle from Marden station to Balfour?
Yes, a free shuttle runs back and forth from Marden station at weekends with no booking needed. On weekdays you need to pre-book a taxi both ways.
How much is a tour at Balfour?
The two-hour Tour and Tasting costs £50 per person Monday to Thursday and £70 Friday to Sunday. A one-hour Tutored Wine Tasting costs £40 on weekdays and £45 at weekends.
Can children go on tours at Balfour?
No. For safety reasons children cannot take part in tours or enter the winery, and tastings are for over-18s only.
Does Balfour Winery have a restaurant?
Yes. The Winemakers’ Kitchen serves lunch every day from 12pm to 3pm and dinner on Friday and Saturday from 7pm to 9pm. The downstairs Cellar Door serves platters and flatbreads from 12pm to 4pm.
Can you stay at Balfour Winery?
There are no rooms on the estate. Balfour’s Winemaker’s Pub in Goudhurst, 10 minutes away, has four bedrooms and runs a free shuttle to the winery, and Balfour sells overnight packages that combine both.