Sussex sparkling wines have been rated above one of the best mid-price champagnes in the world.

A panel of professional tasters gave two bottles of Sussex bubbly better marks than the highly-rated Tesco Premier Cru Champagne Brut and said three were just as good.

The best sparkling wine in the blind taste test was judged to be Classic Cuve 1996, produced at the 18-acre Nyetimber Vineyard in West Chiltington, near Storrington.

The wine, which sells for about £19 a bottle, was praised for its "complexity and elegance".

Andy Hill, songwriter who penned hits for Celine Dion and Cliff Richard as well as Buck Fizz's Eurovision Song Contest-winning song Making Your Mind Up, bought Nyetimber in 2001.

He said the vineyard used the same technique as champagne houses to produce their vintage sparkling wines.

Mr Hill, 46, added: "Sales are going through the roof.

"A lot of people are appreciating the quality. There is no longer the stigma that English wine is made by someone in their boots at the end of their garden with an antiquated grape press."

Consumer magazine Which? chose 35 English wines - 17 still and 18 sparkling - and gave them to the panel with the labels covered.

Added to the list was the bottle of Tesco champagne which had come top in a blind taste test by Which? in 2002.

But the champagne was beaten into eighth place behind Nyetimber and Cuve Merret Cavendish 2000 (£18.95) from the Ridgeview Estate, just north of Ditchling, which was third.

Among the sparkling wines which scored the same as the Tesco champagne were Cuve Maman Mercier 1996 (£14.50), from the Breaky Bottom vineyard, near Lewes, Cuve Merret Bloomsbury 2000 (£14.99), from Ridgeview, and Premier Cuve Blanc de Blancs 1995 (£21), from Nyetimber.

Sussex wine producers hope the results will help shrug off the image of home-grown wine as inferior to imports.

Which? found that with the exception of Nyetimber, which is sold by supermarket chain Waitrose, most of the top wines were only available through specialist wine merchants or from the producers.

Malcolm Coles, editor of Which?, said: "English wine has a bad image but the best sparkling wines we tasted had a depth of flavour to rival champagne.

"It is a mystery UK retailers aren't backing these wines and we challenge them to take up the gauntlet and sell English fizz."

Most English wine is made from Germanic grapes like Muller Thurgau, Schonburger and Bacchus and is considered inferior to French varieties.

But the fizz made from champagne varieties across Sussex has begun to cause a stir, with top London restaurants striking champagnes from their wine list in favour of English varieties.

The Argus reported in February how climate change researchers believed the free-draining Downs could become the new Champagne region.

A recent study predicted weather changes could lead to the demise of Mediterranean classics while Sussex, which already has similar soil, could develop the same climate as the Champagne region of France in a few decades.

Fizz produced in England can't be called champagne, or even methode champenoise, because the names are jealously protected. But experts believe serious investment by a major champagne house could bring with it the cachet of a champagne brand name, meaning English Mot et Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug or even Dom Prignon might one day fill the shelves of Sainsbury's.

Winemakers are trying to boost the profile of their products through English Wine Week, currently taking place.

Julia Trustram Eve, of marketing body English Wine Producers, said:

"There has been an image English wine is inferior and certainly there were some duff bottles around.

"But there is now dedication to the craft in this country, although production is still on a small scale."