Lemon or sugar in your Zin?

I ran across this refreshingly blasphemous article in Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, titled Putting a Cork in Wine Snobs. It’s a good read and underscores a few of the points I’ve been making. Among them:

The phrase room temperature refers to the cool interior of a drawing room in the French Alps, not a 90-degree kitchen in the muggy Midwest.

Screwcaps are all the rage — even among some fine winemakers — and tend to keep the product pure. Also, aseptic packaging of less expensive wines (think juice boxes, only bigger) is an up-and-coming trend.

Glassware isn’t all that. Sure, there’s a certain aesthetic to Riedel that many people find appealing. But the complicated parade of different sizes and shapes isn’t necessary. Just make sure your glass is GLASS (not plastic, styrofoam, or waxed, all of which leach flavor), cool to the touch and clean.

Keep in mind, I don’t endorse every fragment of this wine columnist’s irreverent, myth-busting advice. For example, she recommends sweetening wine to taste, with sugar — or sharpening it up with a squeeze of lemon juice. Also zapping reds in the microwave to “round out” their fruit.

I’m all for making wine more approachable. But personally, I think I’ll reserve my tea service for Earl Grey and my microwave for thawing big hunks of frozen meat.

However, I just may get a box of wine and a fancy glass straw and take them along to the fireworks tonight.