Older vintages
2007 vintage
Patience is sometimes a virtue in winemaking. The 2007 vintage has been locked away in a darkened room for the past 3 years and has emerged transformed and tastes delicious.
The colour is classic Balfour (wild salmon) pink. The bead is delightfully fine and sustained. The nose is well developed with notes of yeast, brioche, citrus and wild strawberry. These are reflected on the palate held together with crisp English acidity.
Elegant and fun, an excellent aperitif and surprisingly good with food.
Dosage 8g / l
2006 vintage
In the glass a delicate wild salmon pink, exceptionally fine bubbles and a prolonged mousse. The nose is clean with a subtle suggestion of brioche and summer fruits. Crisp, mouth-watering acidity with complex red berry fruit – redcurrant and strawberry – with hints of shortbread, cucumber and dried spice on the palate carry through to a refreshing, lingering finish.
22,000 bottles of the 2006 were produced, grown on the enchanting Hush Heath Estate in deepest Kent.
Alc. 12.5% vol: pH 3.01: TA 8.1g / l
55% Pinot Noir - 40% Chardonnay – 5% Pinot Meunier
“Balfour Brut Rosé 2006 – excellent”
Hugh Johnson, Pocket Wine Book 2011.
“Award-winning fizz from Kent that's ideal for any celebration. A delicate colour, it has a strawberry-ish fruit flavour with a lively spring in its step. An English rosé that deserves our applause.”
Olly Smith, Daily Mail
2005 vintage
The Balfour 2005 wine followed a classic sparkling wine fermentation. The Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier were harvested and pressed together. (The Pinot Meunier making up about 4% of the final blend). A small red ferment was made and added to the main cuvee after 4 days to provide the delicate pink colour. The wines rested on their yeast lees until December. Blending and stabilisation of the wine took place in the New Year. Tirage (bottling for the secondary fermentation) took place on 17th July 2007. The wine will rest on its yeast lees until disgorging. Balfour is disgorged on demand and spends a limited time on the cork to maintain its fresh and vibrant style.
Alc 12.5% pH 2.78 Ta 9g/l dosage 8g/l 52% Pinot Noir - 44% Chardonnay - 4% Pinot Meunier
2004 vintage
“Balfour Brut Sparkling Rosé has a delicate salmon-pink colour, a fresh-fruit nose with elements of strawberries and raspberries on the bouquet with an underlying, but not dominant, yeasty character. On the palate, freshness, crispness and lightness on the initial attack, give way to a pleasing, subtly flavoured, fruit-filled wine with a soft mousse and good length of flavour.”
Owen Elias
“Luscious raspberries and strawberries on the nose lead into a really refreshing fruity palate.”
Stephen Skelton, MW