Two Sussex wines featured among the finalists in a competition for the country's top small producers.

The Ditchling-based Ridgeview Wine Estate's Cuvee Merret Cavendish sparkling white wine and Davenport Vineyard's Horsmonden Dry white wine from Rotherfield, near Battle, reached the last round of the Waitrose Small Producers Awards, judged at the Royal Show in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Mardi Roberts, who helps to run Ridgeview, said Sussex was becoming more recognised for the quality of its wine.

She said: "The county is really getting a name for itself as a wine-growing region, particularly for its sparkling wines.

"The environment is so similar to the Champagne region of France we can produce wines as good if not better than the French."

The estate was founded in 1994 by Christine and Michael Roberts, who had previously set up Michael Business Systems, a computer hardware and software company.

That firm grew in the ten years to 1993 from four people working in a kitchen to 450 people in seven offices around the UK turning over £70 million.

They sold the company in 1993 and decided to start a business producing wine. The winery made its first releases to the public in 1999 and since then Ridgeview has won numerous awards.

Ridgeview is a family business and the Roberts' son Simon and his wife Mardi both work on the estate. Their daughter Tamara is a chartered accountant and helps with the business side.

The estate produces four wines - all sparkling - from its 17 acres under vine. It sells between 25,000 and 30,000 bottles a year through a variety of outlets.

Mardi said: "We sell through Waitrose and the Sunday Times Wine Club take most of what we produce. They can't get enough of it."

Wednesday July 9 2003