Multifaceted Chardonnay a Welcome Surprise

Uganda is world's thirstiest country

(NEWSER) - Drinking cuts across all social, economic, and cultural lines, but who imbibes the most? Some answers, compiled by the Daily Beast :

• Men drink more than women (57.6% vs. 46.5%). The gender gap is all but nil for underage drinkers, then widens with age.
• New Hampshire drinks the most beer of any state. At 31.6 gallons per capita per year, New Hampshirites easily outswig New Yorkers (16.7 gallons).

Has managed to escape Chardonnay-type backlash

(NEWSER) - Sauvignon Blanc is officially the new safe drink—it's cheap, consistent, and, all of a sudden, it's everywhere, writes Lettie Teague for the Wall Street Journal . "It's the only wine I drink by the glass," a friend tells Teague. "I feel like I always know what I'm going to get." That consistency has made it the second most popular drink in America, after Chardonnay. Even lawyers like it, Teague jokes. More»

One new highbrow bottle, with 27% alcohol, costs $150

(NEWSER) - Beer with a high alcohol content is in the spotlight after two breweries announced supercharged creations—Boston Beer Company's Utopias, with 27% alcohol, and BrewDog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin, with 32%. Are they good for the average guzzler? Salon gets details from expert Brooks Hamaker:

• They don’t come cheap: Utopias will set you back $150 a bottle.
• Yes, it is beer: Regardless of alcohol content, it’s made from barley, malt, hops, water, and yeast—but it’s not carbonated, "or at least not very well," because of its high sugar content.

Wine panel rates the best from South America

(NEWSER) - We have reached “the vast plateau in the middle of summer,” the time when “one of wine’s primary purposes is to offer relief from the daily bout with seasonal oppression,” writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. Summer wines, “like a good beach read, should be engaging enough to retain interest but not heavy.” Sauvignon blancs fit perfectly, so his tasting panel sampled a variety from South America: More»

Exporters try to cast off a critic's harsh judgment

(NEWSER) - South African is the ninth-largest producer of wine, with several distinctive varietals that should be poised to break into the global marketplace, the New York Times reports. But the country’s wines have been dogged by comments made in 2007 by an influential British wine critic, who said after a tasting of several South African reds that half were marred by a “peculiar, savage, burnt rubber” odor. More»