A VINEYARD has been given the royal seal of approval after helping to create sparkling wine for none other than Queen.

Ridgeview, based near Ditchling, was chosen to create 3,000 bottles of fizz from grapes grown at Windsor Park.

Although not available on the high street, it did not take long for all bottles to be snapped up.

English sparkling wine is in a boom period at the moment, with exports abroad at an all time high.

The wine is increasingly challenging Champagne and Prosecco and the industry has annual sales of about 100 million.

More than 16,500 Chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier vines were planted on Her Majesty's estate in 2011 before being harvested in October 2013.

The grapes were then fermented and blended by Ridgeview, where experts also added more yeast and sugar to create a second fermentation, a traditional way of making the bubbles.

The wines spent two years ageing before being released towards the end of last year.

They were sold as part of a three-bottle gift set for £75.

Ridgeview chief executive Tamara Roberts told a national newspaper the grapes were very good.

She said: “I have tried the finished product and it is delicious – a superb example of a top-quality English sparkling wine. And as the vineyard matures, the wines will get better and better.”

Another batch of the wine is due to be released this autumn and Ms Roberts believes the Windsor vineyards could eventually produce 20,000 a year.

She said many buyers would probably keep the wine as an investment rather than drinking it but it should be opened by 2025.

Ms Roberts said it was impossible to guess how much the wine might be worth in the future but being the first vintage and having been grown on the Queen’s estate could help increase its value.

Sparkling wine in Sussex recently moved a step closer to gaining protected status when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) approved putting the area forward to the EU for recommendation.

The aim is for Sussex to be awarded protected designated origin status, meaning only those winemakers based in the county, meeting a demanding set of quality standards, would be able to use the name “Sussex” on their wine labels.