Zarus 1999 Crianza Red Wine

[quijote]

Hey Folks! I've been mostly on the road over the last few weeks, so I haven't had much of a chance to check in and catch up with the latest. I was in Spain for a while, and now I'm in Buffalo, NY. It sounds like the offline at Glenora was a lot of fun!

At Premier Wines (in Kenmore, NY) today I picked up a bottle of Zarus 1999 Crianza Red Wine, price reduced from $15.00 to $7.50. This is a delicious wine, though the heavy presence of oak might make it more of a Dananne or Drew wine than an IK, Foodie, or Bucko kind of wine. It's deep ruby with aromas of berry and vanilla, and there's lots of intense flavors on the palate: berries, vanilla, cinnamon, black pepper, and caramelized sugar among them. Very delicious with garbure (Basque bean soup), and marvellous as a quaffer on its own. 13% Alcohol. According to the website, this wine is 100% tempranillo.

Anyway, just thought I'd stop in and recommend this one. It's hard to leave Premier without many other bottles as well, so I'll have more to report on in the future, when things settle down.

[winoweenie]

Welcome back "Q". Know you had a blast. WW

[Thomas]

Where in Buffalo do you get Basque soup?

[wondersofwine]

I look forward to further tasting notes from you.

[quijote]

I forgot to mention that the wine is from Ribera del Duero. We went back today for a case of the wine, but it won't last long, I'm sure. The bean soup is my own concoction, based loosely on various recipes over the years. Just stew the following ingredients for 3-5 hours:

Garbure

2 or 3 quarts water and/or chicken broth
2 or 3 ham hocks
chorizo links (optional, for spice)
2-3 cups Great Northern or Cannellini beans
3-4 chopped potatoes (Yukon Golds are best)
Half or quarter chopped cabbage
several cloves of garlic, chopped
chopped parsley and other favorite herbs
medium onion with cloves
sea salt and ground pepper

Simmer ham hocks and onion in water/broth for an hour or so. Remove onion, then add soaked and drained beans, garlic, herbs, and chorizo; cook on low for another hour or so. Add cabbage, potatoes, salt and pepper; stew for 30-60 minutes. It'll be ready to serve, but tastes better after it sits in fridge for a day. Tastes wonderful with evoo toasts and, of course, any number of good wines. Serves maybe 8-10?

[Thomas]

Thanks for the recipe--I'll try it as soon as my very own cannelini beans from the garden are pickable.

[winoweenie]

One of my very favorite soups in the world. 1st encountered it at the "Woolgrowers " restaurant in Bakersfield 25 years ago. SIMPLY MARRRVELOUS!!!!WW ( This is the local Basque communitys' co-op restaurant.)

[dananne]

Thanks for the heads-up -- I'll look for it.

Nice to see you back on here!