The Vineyard Hoppers

For Matt’s 30th birthday, we though we’d take him back to Tenterden as we still had a few more vineyards to visit and we love the town of an evening.

SATURDAY

Wine Tours of Kent

We booked a private tour with the Wine Tours of Kent as it works out really great value for having all of your day booked for you. The tours consist of a driver that will pick you up from a certain radius in Kent (luckily our hotel was within this!), stops at 3 wineries for tours and tastings and lunch at a lovely local pub.

Here’s what we got up to…

Gusbourne Estate

Our day kicked off with a tour around the Gusbourne Estate with Dan where he taught us the story of how the estate became to be, showed us the different grape varieties within the vineyard and led us to a stunning ti-pi to take a seat for a tasting and learning session.

We tried the Blanc de Blanc, Blanc de Noir, Brut Reserve and Rosé and thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful. We also learnt so great wine facts such as all sparkling muselet (the corks cage) will have six twists; give it a count next time you pop a bottle open.

Balfour Winery at Hush Heath

This was our second visit to Balfour, and it is one of the most stunning locations to sit in as the sun shines; you can see why the garden area was packed solid when we visited.

Last time we visited, we weren’t the hugest fans of the wines we tasted, but we do feel that’s because we’d come from two smaller vineyards where we had drunk with the owners/wine makers and at Balfour we were sat on our own with a tasting sheet; we simply felt underwhelmed.

This time around, we were sat out in the sun, metres from the vines with Emma, out tour guide from Wine Tours of Kent who used to work at Balfour who knew everything we needed to know about what we were drinking. This really did enhance our second visit.

Herbert Hall

Our final stop on the tour was to the wonderful Herbert Hall where we had the absolute privilege of sitting with owner Nick and winemaker Kirsty to put the world to right, and of course, try their sparkling wines they’re so very proud of.

And rightly so, the three wines we tried were simply divine and we bought around 12 bottles of the stuff between us. We drank Herbert Hall Brut from their 2017 and 2014 vintages and the Brut Rose which is limited to 2,500 bottles. It was such a learning experience trying the Brut form 2 different vintages to see how the bottle ageing process has matured the earlier bottles.

The history of the vineyard is just as wholesome as the wines too. At the end of the 19th Century, Herbert Hall became the resident farmer known for his hops, apples, pears and plums. Over the years, he built his farm up and this very spot is where his great grandson Nick has planted this vineyard!

The Woolpack

We kicked off our evening with yet another bottle of wine in the pub garden as the sun was setting around us. Highly recommend sitting in the secret garden as it was so tranquil for a Saturday evening.

Hoof + Hook

Us lot love a burger or slab of steak and after a day of drinking in the sun there is no better option so we dined like Kings & Queens at Hoof + Hook in Tenterden High Street.

We ordered quite an array of foods from oysters, to scallops with some asparagus in between for staters. Of course, there were burgers and steaks in the main course order; Nat & Matt both had the Flat Iron Sirlion steaks, Haydy had the the Porky burger complete with cheese and bacon, and Mike went off the rails with the Hook burger made from Battered Haddock and Tartare Sauce! Not a morsel was left on any plate.

The Vine Inn & The White Lion

We saw the night out in a couple of the local pubs drinking yet more English wine, and a few cocktails thrown in for good measure.

SUNDAY

Woodchurch Wine

As we were in town, we stopped by Woodchurch Winery to try their Sparkling Wine Ice Cream that we had seen on their Instagram.

Oh gosh, it was so worth the stop. It was actually so good that we were gutted we couldn’t bring any home.

We also stocked up on a few bottles as we’d run out of bottles at home!

Wayfarer Wines

Matt, like all of us, is a big fan of Wayfarer and they’ve recently changed up their tastings, so we thought it’d be lovely to take him back.

The tour now includes;
– A full tour of the grounds, with stunning views and photo opportunities which, of course, we fully took advantage off!
– An exclusive opportunity to meet and talk with the vineyard founders and owners, who share their passion and knowledge with you. This is always something we hope for on a tour as is makes it so much more personable.
-Answers to all the questions you may have about viticulture, sustainability and winemaking in the UK and you know we asked so many questions!
-Samples of all 5 wines in the range which are divine; we dare you to try and pick a favourite!
-And, as ever, an opportunity to purchase wine to enjoy on site or to take home with you, which we 100% did.

Nightingale Farm Shop

To round up the weekend, we took a quick stop off at the Nightingale Farm Shop to grab a few tinnies of Nightingale Cider and some wonderful Kent strawberries for the ride home.