Cloudy Bay & Highfield 2006 Taste Test

The other weekend we did a blind tasting of 2006 Sauvignon Blanc’s from Highfield & Cloudy Bay. These are two of my favourite wines (Highfield being the better of the two) and both scored 5 stars.

Both wines were lightly chilled and served before and during a meal.  Over time a Sauvignon Blanc will “mature” and lose some of it’s “zingy-ness”.  The fruity side of things will still be there but there will have been a mellowing of the flavours and the wine usually tastes a little less dry.

Above you can see Highfield on the left and Cloudy Bay on the right.  The Cloudy Bay was a darker colour than the Highfield but only slightly.

Highfield Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – The wine still retained a lot of the zingy-ness you’d associate with a quite young wine.  There was very little mellowing of the flavours and the wine could have passed for a much younger wine.  This was our favourite “before meal” wine.

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – The Cloudy Bay had mellowed much more than the Highfield, there was a more complex flavour and the wine tasted very different to a “young” Sauvignon Blanc.  This was our preferred wine to have with the meal.

In conclusion, both wines had aged well and tasted great.  The Highfield still tasted very young and made a perfect aperitif wine whereas the Cloudy Bay had mellowed over time and went very well with food.  Surprisingly in this case I think the Cloudy Bay was the better wine *you all know my love of Highfield).  So, Highfield wins when it’s younger, Cloudy Bay wins when it’s older.

Coming soon, Cloudy Bay & Highfield 2007 Taste Test…