WITH its lush green courts, bleached tennis whites, glistening strawberries and rich cream, few events are as quintessentially British as Wimbledon.

But now there’s another national institution to add to the set – Sussex wine.

For the first time in the tournament’s 138-year history an English wine will be served, with Bolney Wine Estate’s Pinot Gris 2014 to be served up at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

The dry white wine, which has a fragrant aroma of rose, jasmine and pears, was chosen as a perfect match for the tournament’s traditional refreshment, strawberries and cream.

Bolney was one of the early pioneers of Sussex wine in the 1970s and had to muddle through with trial and error.

It has now emerged as one of the hit wine producers in Sussex among a busy field of some 72 vineyards which have a combined value of £50 million.

Bolney winemaker and managing director Sam Linter, whose father founded the vineyard, said: “We are so proud that our Pinot Gris has been selected to be served in the Wimbledon boxes this year.

“Being such a quintessentially English institution it only seems right that English wine is being served.

“To us, it shows how the quality and reputation of English wine has improved in recent years.

“We have picked up a plethora of awards in 2015, and hope to see many more in the coming months.”

Chris Foss, head of wine at Plumpton College, said: “I’m sure Bolney will be very pleased – and why not? You’ve got English strawberries and English cream so of course English wine should be served.

“The acclaim has grown enormously in the last year and we’ve won a raft of medals.

“In 2012 we had a poor vintage but now we’re seeing great wines coming through.”

English wine producers have struggled in the past with an inconsistent climate and higher production costs than continental rivals.

But last year domestic vineyards enjoyed a long, warm spring and summer, bringing high-quality grapes in large volumes.

Paul Morgan, of Butler’s Wine Cellar, said: “It’s a sign of the high quality of English wines that are being served that Bolney has been selected for Wimbledon.

“We stock 60 different English wines with the majority from Sussex.

“There’s been a lot of interest from customers.”