Balfour’s English Wine Dinner at Lock 84

Harley Young 30 June 2026

Gordo reckons the wine from Balfour is more than ready to challenge its French rivals

Is English wine nasty?

50 years ago it was; very. Nearly as nasty as Australian. Then Nyetimber Sparkling came along in the late eighties and changed all that.

The world had started to heat up, and that chalk escarpment in Kent stretching across the channel into northern France’s Champagne region had started to produce wine from similar vines in good old blighty.

And they were rather good.

This writer, at a blind tasting in 1996 at Christie’s in London, scored a Nyetimber higher than a non-vintage Moët champagne. We can’t, though, call any sparkling wine from outside the French region of Champagne Champagne, but a few English growers around today are consistently standing up to their cousins across the channel and ever more regularly beating them.

At Lock 84’s wine dinner last Thursday, showcasing wines from Balfour Winery in Kent, the welcome coupe that started the action was their Leslie’s Brut NV. It was very, very good. I am not just being polite.

Like other classic champagne houses, the natural tendency towards sharp apples in young NV’s is being softened already by digestive biscuits (the French talk of ‘brioche’; if we can’t use‘champagne’, then they can go and fuck off with their ‘brioche’, we’ll have McVitie’s from Levi, Manchester).

Whilst all the wines shown were a marvel of English farming ingenuity, this was my stand-out from the evening. It’s around £30 to £35 in the shops and value at that.

Tip: buy two, drink one now to warm up the palate, then stick the other under the sink for a year and revisit. It will put a smile on your face.

2026 06 30 Balfour — **Leslie’s Brut NV by Balfour Winery** Credit: Confidentials

At The Reach’s little gem of a restaurant, Lock 84, a number of Balfour’s wines were being showcased alongside a good-looking six-course menu designed to pair with the wines on a very warm June evening beside one of Manchester’s historic locks on the Rochdale canal.

The food, as well as the wine, was a pleasure. The first course was a belter, heritage tomatoes with whipped Lancashire cheese, toasted sourdough, elderflower and basil.

It was paired with Balfour’s Nanette’s Rosé. Similar to a bottle from one of Vignobles de Ramatuelle vineyards on the St Tropez peninsula in the South of France. Very light blush, very bloody dangerous on Pampelonne beach.

Heritage tomato & whipped Lancashire cheese, toasted sourdough, elderflower & basil dressing Credit: Confidentials

Spiced mackerel, Scotch egg, pickled cucumber salad, green herb raita, coriander Credit: Confidentials

Hot smoked chicken, broad beans & wild garlic, braised leeks, sweetcorn purée, crispy chicken skin, tarragon oil Credit: Confidentials

Roast pork belly glazed with cherry & Jake's cider, Pinot Noir braised red cabbage, compressed apple, crispy onions Credit: Confidentials

Rosé & Vimto jelly summer pudding, mixed British fruits in rosé and Vimto jelly, clotted cream Credit: Confidentials

Don’t drink three bottles at lunch at Club 55 and have a ‘quick’ nap on that beach.

You won’t be able to wear clothes for a fortnight.

This dinner was great, and really good value. £55 including the wine, I have to thank the very personable Myles Archibald (you’d never know he was a wine salesman) from Balfour’s Winery (link) and my pals Tan and Peter at The Reach at Piccadilly’s restaurant Lock 84 for the invite, loved it. And Chef Chris and the team, front and back.

To my lot, keep an eye out for these regular dinners - bloody good fun.

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