New Careers: The Personal Sommelier

New in careers: the "personal sommelier," a trusted wine adviser for the well-heeled oenophile.

Big Gulp

Tokyo-based beverage makers Kirin and Suntory may merge, creating a drinks company with higher sales than Coca-Cola.

Vintage Music

Upcoming summer concerts that take place in vineyards.

Going for the Jugular

Five wines for summer swillin'.

Saison Beers

Eight, great, red or golden brews for summer drinking.

Tong T-Tong Tong Tong

Tong, a new upscale wine magazine, has nothing to do with Sisqó or underwear. It takes its name from the Flemish word for tongue.

Middle American Terroir

Midwestern winemakers are seeking federal recognition for a massive 29,000 square mile viticultural area stretching across four states. If approved, the proposed Upper Mississippi River Valley, which is five times larger than California's North Coast, would be the largest designated winemaking region in the U.S.

Wine Industry Fears Health Care Reform Will Lead to Tax Hikes

Wine producers are concerned about a so-called "lifestyle tax" proposal being floated in the Senate that would raise taxes on alcohol to help pay for health care reform.

EU Drops Plan to Allow Blended Rosé

Following an uproar by French winemakers, the European Union has reversed itself on a plan to allow rosé wines to be made by mixing red and white wines.

Tales of Tea

This summer, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (91 Orchard Street, New York) will present "Tea Cart Stories," an interactive public art exhibition exploring tea as a locus of tradition, memory, and culture.

Artist Michele Brody will set up a tea cart parked at 108 Orchard Street (across from the Tenement Museum) and invite guests inside to share family stories and experiences dealing with tea. Brody will record and transcribe the stories on paper tea bags steeped in tea leaves which will then be displayed on a structure made of copper pipes installed on an early 20th century pushcart (you can see another incarnation of the project here). This display will then be installed in the windows of 97 Orchard Street through December 2009.
 
The tea cart will be open to the public for story-gathering from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on June 11 and 25 and July 9 and 23, pending weather conditions.

Image: Lower East Side Tenement Museum.