The grapes at Eglantine Vineyard are being picked early

A Nottinghamshire vineyard owner says this summer's hot weather should lead to a vintage grape crop and some of the finest wine the country has ever produced.

Picking is due to begin this week - three weeks ahead of schedule.

Tony Skuriat, whose Eglantine Vineyard is close to Loughborough, Leicestershire, is attributing this to a rainy July followed by a hot August.

He said: "The wine will probably keep for longer and this is where the 'vintage years' idea comes into being, because even in the south of France they don't have a vintage year every year."

We're not big enough to part company with part of the profits for the middleman Tony Skuriat

Mr Skuriat discovered his passion for wine production when he lived in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, working as a secondary school chemistry teacher.

He made the decision to find more suitable premises for wine-growing after his wife Veronica pointed out their garden was becoming too crowded with vines for their children to have anywhere left to play.

They eventually started their vineyard on a plot halfway between the Nottinghamshire villages of Costock and Bunny.

The Eglantine Vineyard's first commercial crop appeared in 1984 - and in 2003, clinched a silver medal in the International Wine and Spirits competition with its dessert wine North Star.

Like many of the 400 vineyard owners in England and Wales, Mr Skuriat sells his produce straight from his premises.

He said: "We're not big enough to part company with part of the profits for the middleman."