Our Awards and Press

Our natural English reserve prevents us from bragging about the awards we have received. However, having won a gold medal and trophy in the International Wine Challenge for the first vintage of our iconic Balfour Brut Rosé, we are rightly proud to be one of the wineries flying the flag for English Wine. Our most recent award was a first for English red wine; ‘The Red Miller’ was awarded the IWC English Red Trophy, the first time in the competition’s 36-year history that an English still red wine received this prestigious accolade.

We take pride in only entering industry recognised awards and only those in which wine industry professionals blind taste the wines. Our most recent highlights include:

Mary Rose 2020 – Still Rosé of the Year Award – Tim Atkin MW 2022 Special English Wine Report 2022
Gatehouse 2020 – Trophy: Joint Best Red Pinot Noir WineGB Awards, 2022
Nannette’s Rose 2021 – Silver Medal International Wine Challenge, 2022
Blanc de Noirs 2018 – Silver Medal International Wine Challenge, 2022
Balfour 1503 – Silver Medal International Wine Challenge, 2022
Luke’s Pinot Noir 2020 – Silver Medal International Wine Challenge, 2022
Cinque Ports 2019 – Silver Medal International Wine Challenge, 2022
Blanc de Blancs 2014 – Silver Medal International Wine Challenge, 2022
Balfour Brut Rosé 2018 – Kent Wine of the Year at the Taste of Kent Awards 2022
Balfour Brut Rose 2017 – 92 points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Blanc de Blancs 2014 – Gold Medal International Wine Challenge
The Red Miller 2018 – International Wine Challenge National English Red Trophy
Balfour 1503 Classic Cuvée- Decanter Gold Medal Winner, 2015

Awards are not exclusively for our wines, Owen Elias has been making wine at Balfour since our very first vintage in 2004 and we are proud to say has been awarded UK Winemaker of the Year on six occasions. His son, Fergus Elias is following in his footsteps, as one of England’s youngest winemakers.

Other awards: