The Sussex wine beat competition from 55 countries

The Ridgeview Marret Bloomsbury, which is made at a Ditchling vineyard, took the top honour at the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2005.

Vineyard owner Michael Roberts said the accolade was great for the reputation of English wines.

The Ridgeview Estate makes 57,000 bottles of sparkling wine each year.

Mistake for champagne

In the UK as a whole, 250,000 bottles are produced.

It took a panel of judges four months to taste their way through all the entrants before selecting the only English entry.

Mr Roberts said: "It really does mean that we can look at our wines and be proud of English wine making."

His wife, Mardy, said many people often mistake their sparkling wine for champagne.

"Our wines are also used in blind tasting against major brands of champagnes and more often than not our wines come off on top."

The Roberts attribute the cool nights and mild days for their vineyard's success.

The International Wine and Spirit Competition uses blind judging to choose the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs and