Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel 2007

I happened upon a cheap wine that I thought might be a nice addition to our dinner plans for the evening (which changed anyhow), the Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel 2007. The blend offers supple fruit, cinnamon tones, and a touch of smoke on the nose. This overly juicy wine is suitable for drinking with pasta dishes (as I found out tonight, see http://adnsplace.blogspot.com for my meal this evening) and may be good with meats such as pork and beef. With a velvety mouthfeel, this wine is certainly an easy drinking wine, one I would keep on hand for parties. Points: 84-86.

Cicchitti Malbec-Cab Blend

For those that enjoy a bit of depth in their Malbec, you may enjoy the Cicchitti Malbec-Cabernet blend. This wine has the unique flavors of malbec ( a touch of mint, nice berry structure and sweetness) with the increased depth from Cab. The tobacco flavor really fits nicely with the malbec flavors and leads to a nice, drinkable wine today. I paired this with a puerco cubano (cuban pork) from Cascal Restaurant (http://www.cascalrestaurant.com/index.asp) combined with an awesome set of sides, cuban black beans with rice and mashed sweet potato-plantain mixtures. Very sweet!  Overall, I would suggest pairing the Cicchitti with meats the bring out the excellent flavors from the cab (black cherry and tobacco). Pork seemed to be an excellent match, as the mint and tobacco combined together with the underlying spice in the wine to form a nice bouquet in the mouth. Overall, I rate this wine 88+ points.