The owners of a Sussex vineyard are toasting their sparkling success.

Court Garden Vineyard in Ditchling took home bronze at the South East Wine of the Year Awards and also scooped first place in the sparkling wine category at ukvine’s Designs on Wine competition.

Both awards were for the vineyard’s Court Garden 2009 Vintage Classic Cuvée.

Joint owner Howard Corney said: “We are thrilled to receive these awards which reflect the superb quality of this sparkling wine.

“We knew our sparkling wine was good but when the panel of six judges awarded us such high marks we realised we had got it about right.

“English sparkling wine is enjoying considerable success at the moment, with much interest and investment in new vineyards and wineries.

“We are a comparatively small player and we concentrate on producing the best quality grapes that we can.