Three Stops in West Kent on England's New County-Wide Wine Trail

Kent likes to call itself the Garden of England, but these days it's just as keen to be known as its wine cellar - and Visit Kent has just given that claim a proper brand. The Kentish Wine Way, launched in August, brings together more than 30 of the county's vineyards under one destination identity, and three of them are right here in West Kent: Squerryes in Westerham, Balfour Winery (Hush Heath Estate) in Staplehurst, and Mereworth Wines in Wateringbury.

Kent has around 120 commercial vineyards and more than 1,300 hectares under vine - more than any other county in Great Britain, and over a quarter of the national total. Its producers have also picked up more wine awards since 2020 than any other English county. The Kentish Wine Way, organised by Visit Kent with Ashford Borough Council, doesn't change any of that - it's a marketing campaign, not a new attraction - but it does mean the county's vineyards are now being promoted as a single joined-up day-out-or-weekend circuit rather than a scattering of separate businesses. Councillor David Wimble, Kent County Council's Cabinet Member for Economic Development, called it "the first time that vineyards across an entire county have come together under one collective identity," with wine tourism forecast to drive a 21% rise in full-time jobs in the sector by 2028.

Squerryes is the trail's Sevenoaks borough entry, run on the historic Squerryes Estate (the same family seat that's home to Squerryes Court). The winery runs vineyard tours and tutored tastings - including the "Flight of Squerryes," a run through up to four of its sparkling vintages - on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the summer, plus Saturday winter tastings, alongside an on-site restaurant and a deli and cellar door shop.

Balfour Winery, on the Hush Heath Estate in Staplehurst, is the elder statesman of the three - its first vintage, a 2004 Balfour Brut Rosé, won gold at the 2007 International Wine Challenge and put English sparkling wine on the map. It's since built The View, a contemporary visitor centre overlooking the estate that opened in 2018, offering self-guided walks, expert-led tours and tastings, and a restaurant, The Winemakers' Kitchen, open seven days a week.

Mereworth Wines is the newest and smallest-feeling of the three, run from Brewers Hall Oast, a converted oast house between Tonbridge and West Malling, with a 75-acre vineyard in Wateringbury. It's more taproom than grand estate - dog-friendly, with pizza and brunch alongside guided tours from around £30 and a regular programme of live music nights.

Between the three of them, the trail's West Kent presence actually spans three boroughs: Staplehurst, where Balfour sits, is in Maidstone, alongside Sevenoaks (Squerryes) and Tonbridge & Malling (Mereworth Wines). Squerryes and Hush Heath also both had an early, hot-summer harvest this year, among the earliest in decades. Source: Visit Kent