Fizz, bang! Does English bubbly beat Champagne?

Over the past few years, a staple headline in the press has been a variation of "Global Warming Helps English Wine Beat Champagne in Blind Tasting". While standards of wine-making in this country are on the up (investments have been made and hotter summers have helped when it comes to getting the grapes sufficiently ripe), the world's fine-wine regions didn't gain their status overnight: the legend of the monk behind Dom Pérignon dates back to the 17th century, and today, the marque is part of a multi-billion-pound global empire. By comparison, in terms of its evolution and reach, English sparkling wine is at the Primark stage.

Nonetheless, in the past four years, the number of hectares under vine in England has more than doubled. As the editor of Decanter wine magazine, I've probably been guilty of looking down my nose at English variants in the past, but it suddenly felt that the time was right to give them a chance – hence our first English sparkling-wine tasting.

We called in samples from all the major growers (sparkling only – most English still wine remains execrable) and ended up with 72 to sniff, swirl and slurp. It was a stellar line-up of tasters – our consultant editor Steven Spurrier, TV wine personality Oz Clarke, Champagne guru Tom Stevenson, wine writer Andrew Jefford, the chef de cave of Moët & Chandon and three Masters of Wine: Stephen Skelton, who wrote the section on English wine in the Oxford Companion to Wine, and the buyers for two of our leading supermarkets.

So, were the wines serious? We found 17 that gained three stars out of five on the Decanter rating system and that we would happily recommend. (By comparison, 41 rated two stars, and a worrying 14 garnered a pitiful one star.) These wines were fresh, with lively, appley citrus notes, and the potential to develop further nutty, honeyish complexity.

The wines using Champagne grape varieties fared best – only two of the top 20 were from non-Champagne blends, and these came 19th and 20th. And the two we slipped in that were actually from the Champagne region – Duval-Leroy and Lanson Black Label (non-vintage examples) – finished 11th and 12th respectively, meaning 10 English sparklers can claim superiority – eight of which we feature here.

While English wines aren't yet consistent enough, it is becoming simpler to find them. Waitrose has just added 10 (still and sparkling) to its range, and reports sales have doubled this year. M&S, meanwhile, is in talks with the producer of Balfour Brut and has already taken on another Chapel Down's rosé for the summer. So things are improving.

"If we had done this tasting 10 years ago, it would have been far worse," says Andrew Jefford. "We've made great progress. Champagne's taken 500 years to get where it is – we've only been going 30 or 40. So let's keep going and who knows what we'll see in the future?"

Guy Woodward is the editor of 'Decanter' magazine. The next issue, out on Wednesday, features the full results of the English sparkling-wine tasting (www.decanter.com)

Meopham Valley Rosé 2005

Pale salmon colour with fresh fruit and good balance. Slightly short on the finish. £19.50, 01474 812 727, www.meopham valleyvineyard.co.uk

Plumpton Estate The Dean NV

An immediate thriller. Ripe, attractive fruit style. Good acid and quite full. Will go nut/ honey-ish in two years. From £18, 01273 890 454, www.plumpton.ac.uk

Nyetimber Blanc de Noirs 2003

Great fruit on the nose and the palate. Full, long and balanced. £50, 01798 813 989, www.nyetimber.com

Camel Valley Pinot Noir Brut 2005

Good fruit on nose. Firm acid, balanced by dosage. Good length. From £17.95, 0120 877 959, www.camelvalley.com

Denbies Greenfields 2002

Cut lemon and bread on the nose. Intensely lemony over autolytic breadiness. Challengingly good. £22, 01306 876 616, www.denbiesvineyard.co.uk

Theale Founder's Reserve 2003

Complex and well made. A slightly mean streak to the acidity. Long, edgy finish, but classy. £22.99, 0870 444 8383, www.laithwaites.co.uk

Balfour Brut 2004

Reserved and restrained. The Champagne blend does tell. Apple and a little strawberry cream. Young and will age. £33, 020 7479 9500, www.hushheath.co.uk

Ridgeview Merret Grosvenor 2001

Nice greenish-gold. Lively, foamy, sherbety, soft, fruity style. Quite high dosage. Very easy drinking. From £21, 01444 241 441, www.ridgeview.co.uk