Calcareous 2006 Red - Three Pack
$49.99 + $5 shipping
Condition: Red
Products:
1 2006 Calcareous Zinfandel
1 2006 Calcareous Syrah
1 2006 Calcareous Cabernet Sauvignon
CT links above
Previous offer:
5/31/2010
Labrat reports from that offer: here
This stuff is good.
Previous wootings mean we’ve tasted it and it’s minerally! Quite large, as they’re ripe and from Paso Robles, but not fruit bomby, or just boring dark. More Fruit, with laaaarge amounts of mineral from the limetone soil.
Much much better than the TLC which they import!
I must crack open another later. But my alert woke me and I must sleeep.
Don’t forget this wootoff in August, where I did a live rattage of the Syrah, at 7am!
EDIT NO
THIS IS NOT A COPY / PASTE THIS IS A NEW REVIEW OF THE ZIN AND CAB. AUGUST’s (better) REVIEW WAS OF THE SYRAH!
And sod it… I find I have the Zin and the Cab here and I’m awake and have a headache. So… MEDICINE!
Right… I’ve just been up tot he kitchen for some glasses and uncorked the bottles. Here’s a comparative tasting.
So, 5 minutes in glass…
NOSE:
Zinfandel:
Smells of Marmalade! Yes, like Frank Cooper’s Oxford marmalade, which is about as good as you can buy from a shop. I think you can buy it outside of Oxford nowadays if you go to the right supermarkets.
Cab: Smells of… Cab. Subdued, but some blackcurrant noticeable, and perhaps boysenberry or something tart.
Both smell a little minerally, but that might just be my expectations!
LOOKS
Neither is a cripple (fine legs) and the Cab is a bit purplier than the Zin, which is a nice soft mid-red.
TASTE
Zinfandel:
EEK hot! But there’s nice fruit kicking in, some on the mid-late palate, and long finish.
The fruit is tart red fruit, with good acid behind it. IT’s not sweet at all this one, and the fruit is tart cherry and maybe something rounded in it. Lingonberries or something. Hmmm, perhaps damsons. Not huge body, maybe light-medium bodied at most, but the fruits are complex enough to take the sting out of the alcohol and make it pleasant to drink.
Mid-palate has some roundness, but the alcohol keeps it tart and prevents it from blooming quite as much as I’d like.
10 mins
Still Zin: Nose is showing heat now.
York Mtn Cabernet: Dusty nose, not giving much away still.
TASTE:
Cab: Quite hot and short. Not huge body. Front of palate shows some tart damson and dark cherry. Tannins come through on the mid-palate and are round, dry and lingering. They will dry out the mouth definitely. A lot of alcohol in this one, but a lot of mineral on the mmid-palate just before the tannins kick in. Still tart, dry mouth-puckering taste. Tastes a bit tart to be Cabby… reminds me more of a Shiraz. Bu the tannins are definitely Cab. Dry and Drying! I think this needs some air.
20 minutes.
Cab: Signs of opening up. Mineral and tannins obvious in the Cab and looking better. Getting a bit longer with the tannins getting bigger and the mineral keeping the mouth watering for longer with lingering tart fruit.
Zin: Less tart than the Cab now. There’s more dusty fruit on the Zin nose and its mineral is showing harder in the mid-late palate, and some less tart strawberry is becoming apparent. Still quite hot, but the fruits are coming into their own, and it’s mouthwateringly acidic in the right ways!
Neither is wowing me yet… but I have no food to try these with, sadly today, so my palate may miss things. It is 5.30am after all here. the Syrah may just be the better wine, but let’s give these time to open up with some airtime.
I’m going to sleep for a while and let them open up.
Where’s the Wellington???
Not sure how I missed that last time, but absolutely hilarious!
thank you, and it was in several parts, in case you missed the sequels… Also see above… I edited that post as you were answering it. So, this faux-rattage will also be in several parts if the offering lasts long enough for me to awake in a few hours.
Freaking. High-larious!
I didn’t remember this cause I’d just had my heart ripped out and was in recovery mode. I swear, if my wife had showed me that, I might have passed straight to…your guess is as good as mine.
Felt like I was sitting next to you, except for being in bed…boxers…and the personal hygiene crud.
OK still awake. 35-40 minutes:
Zin: Opened up more… tastes more leathery now, with some nice notes of that marmalade I smelled earlier!Nice acid backdrop, but a little too much alcohol for me. Nice taste, and a hint of tannins at the back end.
Cab: Still a bit “empty” and hot, but biiig tannnins and good mineral. These tannins are lengthening the experience a lot now!
Headache’s gone. Medicine obviously worked. Now to sleep!
Bought this last time and said I’d buy more if it came up again. I thought they were all delicious and wish I could afford more than 1 right now…
Bought this last time and was (unfortunately) not very impressed. Too spicy for me. Even after 1 day letting the wine breath, it still had too many edges. I personally prefer smoother wines where you get more fruit.
richardhod - great post!
with dedication like that, how can I say no.
Here’s my note for the Zin:
I only vaguely remember the stuff (mostly just its general lack of distinctiveness), but do remember the bracing acidity that Richard is noting, and also the odd, un-Zin-like lack of heat - or at least perhaps not the heat I was expecting after seeing the big 15.9 slapped on the bottle. Perhaps, contra Richard, who is used to drinking low-alcohol clarets and such European ninny wine, I cut my teeth on bigger California specimens, and so am mildly more inured to such things (like RPM says, different experience and whatnot). Again, overall the stuff wasn’t too bad, but not particularly interesting.
Alas, I still haven’t touched the Cab and Syrah, so I’ll defer to others’ impressions of them. Personally, I don’t think the Zin is worth the money, but that doesn’t mean the others can’t make up for it. But draw your own conclusions. 
I originally bought one of these back in May or so. I had concerns relative to the high alcohol levels others have mentioned. The winemaker’s participation convinced me to give it a try and so I did.
I posted this on the last offering; the Syrah was certainly the best I have purchased on any woot offering and maybe the best Syrah that I have ever tasted. I guess with no context for what i have had in the past this doesn’t mean much. I was also impressed with the Zin - it was very good to my taste. I never have tried the CS, but i did buy three last time and three today.
Didn’t really take notes, but I thought Richard’s live ratting last time was fairly illuminating.
I hope this will help somebody feel comfortable to give this a try. If you’re not sure of all three, on the Calcareous website they have the Syrah and CS on sale for $20 (reg $34) - don’t know what shipping costs are.
In for 1!
Retail price is about $60 for this group of average wines. With shipping, don’t see this as a screaming deal.
Are there any plans to offer a Bota Of Cabernet for the Wine Woot-Offs?
It seems a logical extension.
Now for the next question. What does one eat for breakfast after an early AM Faux ratting?
Dang it, missed the re-offer again!
chinese!
anyway, my palate has ccome on since August. I’ve started to work out what I really do like as well, though still open. K1’s review is decent, though I’d say they’re memorably spicy and the Zin certainly has some fruit leather and spiciness worth a punt if you lik the “strong” wines!
I think I’ll still like the Syrah, but yes, these other two are a little too spicy for me. I do like the Zin somewhat, though wouldn’t be able to drink a lot of it. The Cab is thinnish, but very spicy, with alcohol, and round present tannins. Both a decent amount of acid.
Drinkable, but I’m happy to let the remaining 4 bottles I have of each (though I might hold onto the Syrah) go to a more appreciative home.