Balfour launches Blanc de Noirs English sparkling wine

Kent’s Balfour Winery has released its first ever Blanc de Noirs using Pinot Noir and Meunier from the outstanding 2018 vintage.

Using grapes from its top sites in the heart of the Weald of Kent, the new English sparking wine has been created by the father and son winemaking team, Owen and Fergus Elias.

True to the signature style of all Balfour’s vintage wines, it has not undergone malolactic fermentation, and the new cuvée contains 75% Pinot Noir with 25% Meunier, all grown on a combination of rich clay and Kentish ragstone, which is a hard limestone exclusive to the county.

The backbone of the Blanc de Noirs 2018 is the Foxridge vineyard, located at the highest point of the estate above Hush Heath Manor.

Often seen as the Estate’s ‘hidden secret’, it produces especially ripe Pinots that have also been selected for Luke’s Pinot Noir and successful Suitcase Pinot Noir, which is part of the Balfour Winemaker Collection.

Owen Elias, who planted the site in 2010 with some very unusual clones, said, “We had to wait a long time until conditions were right to perfect a Blancs de Noirs blend. In 2018 that chance arrived. The weather was hot and sunny from spring to harvest, the quantity was unheard of, and the quality superb. That was the year that English wine came of age – and our Balfour Blanc de Noirs with it.”

The sparkling wine will be disgorged in 500 bottle batches, and retail for £35 from www.balfourwinery.com