Even the world’s finest wines can be awful unless they are properly served. There are even certain wine glasses (Riedel) specially designed to direct the flow over the tongue to pass over just the right taste buds. Too much for me. At home I just use plain tumblers. Most of my French wine grower friends use tumblers too. Temperature is an important variable that affects taste. Alcohol, one of the essential ingredients in wine, tastes different as the temperature varies. If too warm, wine tastes hot, sharp and burns the palate. When they said to serve wine at “room temperature” they meant 17th century French rooms, at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the best temperature to serve the chateau bottled Bordeaux wines.