If you have been following the NCAA tournament, aka March Madness, this year, you will have noted that there have been a number of upsets. Admittedly, I don’t really care about basketball, but one of these upsets caught my attention. It is with great alumna pride that I will root for Cornell when they take on Kentucky at the Carrier Dome tonight.

While I won’t be trekking to Syracuse or heading out to a local bar to watch the game, I do plan to celebrate this exciting moment in Cornell’s athletic history with a toast at 10:00 PM when the game starts (technically it starts at 9:57 PM, which makes no sense to me, but in case you plan to watch, I wouldn’t want you to miss a minute or three).

So what to drink on such an occasion? A big red, of course! No puny Pinot Noirs tonight. Instead, I’m going to reach for something big, bold and brash.

Ottimino’s Zinfinity, which I recently drank courtesy of a sample I received, would be a good option. The wine is a blend of 93% Zinfandel, 7% Petite Sirah and spent 20 months in French oak. Its youthful aromas included spice, oak, blueberry and blackberry. The rich, ripe fruit dominated the palate, but was balanced by the acidity, sweet, ripe tannins and flavors of spice, vanilla, oak and smoke.
Ottimino, Zinfinity Zinfandel 2006, Sonoma County, CA (USA), $17.00 SRP

Of course, there are a myriad of other options such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz or Malbec to fit this bill if you choose to go the varietal route, but Amarone, Barolo and Barbaresco would work equally well, should your palate and pocketbook be a bit more sophisticated. Either way, may the best team win and by that I mean, Go Big Red!