Hot Plates is delighted it’s the weekend, but after a day where temps slumped into the 30s, we are pretty anxious about the weather. Maybe we have become real Washingtonians after all — fretting about the weather, being scared to go places due to Beltway traffic, stepping into crosswalks even when drivers are doing 50, etc. Either that or we are just getting old (entirely possible).

One thing we cannot cheer, even as we bring you good wine and spirits news, is this report from the AP (spotted on the Washington Examiner’s site) about someone named “Lil Jon.” This guy, a rapper, apparently “drinks more than crunk juice.” Jon has followed many a celeb’s lead and started his own wine label.

Yes, Little Jonathan Winery is real, though Jon’s zest for viniculture is not.

“I’m not no ‘drink wine every day’ kind of dude,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m not like an expert, so don’t ask me no questions … I just like the taste.”

This is the guy who brought us the Crunk!!! Energy Drink. Yeah. If you buy the stuff, Lil Jon wants you to know that “This is not no ghetto Boone’s Farm; this is some real wine.” Hmm, yeah. Funny how true talent just can’t rest.

In more uplifting news, there are a few good stories about wine (and gin!) to pass on.

We’ll begin with the hard stuff. Don’t you know the saying? Can’t you hear some pubescent coed’s voice shouting “Liquor before beer … in the clear!”

Goodbye “Christmas tree in a bottle” and hello “Garden in a glass.” Betty Hallock at the Los Angeles Times says gin, once uncool next to its trendy sibling, vodka, is “having a moment”: “Gin Cocktails Make a Splashy Comeback” gives the scoop on the Greyhound and other delicious, summery gin concoctions.

“Organic gin and lime juice are flecked with Thai basil” in a drink called the Emerald City (Cliff C., you did it first!). “Dry-herbal-fresh or aromatic-bitter” is in at the moment in hot bars across America; sweet, creamy and fruity are on holiday with the cool kids.

“Gin fits right in with a current infatuation with herbs, botanicals and green flavors,” Hallock writes, and we think she is right on the money. But we’ll have to do more investigating here in Washington (go ahead! twist our arm) to find out if the trend has truly hit our semi-Southern, trend-averse city.

What can the palate handle after an herbaceous gin drink? Many white wines would not do the job, but perhaps a semi-chilled pinot noir would work. Three writers talk about this popular wine this week.

Eric Asimov writes up Russian River Valley pinot, which he prefers because it is different from a lot of what comes out of California. “The prevailing thick, fruit-and-oak-drenched style, often with a touch of sweetness, does not appeal to me.”

Asimov and his N.Y. Times wine panel tasted 25 bottles of ‘06 and ‘06 Russian River Valley pinot noir and was mostly pleased: “Very few were of the candied, super-saturated fruit bomb genre. Instead, these were lighter wines, with an emphasis on spice and herbal flavors like cinnamon, sarsaparilla, wintergreen and menthol.” Not sure about those last two notes, but he writes like nobody else. We’ll be trying Mia’s Playground and BearBoat; read to the second page of the article to see his list and the prices.

Karen and Andrew at The Washington Post are our guides this week on our “journey to become the world’s greatest expert on pinot noir.” They discuss this “most revered and food-friendly red grape around” in the context of a story about wine experts at The Inn at Little Washington, which didn’t have a wine director when it first came into being.

And S. Irene Virbila at the L.A. Times reviews a “delightful” pinot from the Anderson Valley that could go nicely with “a wild mushroom tart, a roast leg of lamb or a cheese plate.”

The only non-pinot noir item is a writeup in the Dallas Morning News of this Sonoma zinfandel from Dark Horse Winery. If pinot noir has the potential to be delicate, zinfandel usually isn’t about subtle, and “this wine is “a big, juicy mouthful of dark berry and cherry flavors laced with wild herb and pepper notes.” Drink this, or something similarly wintry, as you kiss this unseasonably nasty weather goodbye.