Can the shape of your wine glass affect the taste of the wine? According to the people over at The Guardian--maybe.

Felicity Cloake, the publication's food and wine reporter writes: ". . . in Austria, a ninth-generation glassmaker called Claus Riedel was theorising glass shapes' effect on wine. The company launched a range of grape-specific glasses in 1961, claiming 'wide, open glass shapes require us to sip by lowering the head, whereas a narrow rim forces the head to tilt backwards so that the liquid flows. This delivers and positions the beverage to different 'taste zones' of the palate.'"

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Soon after we posted our list of the city's 5 best beer halls, we got word from Bowery Boogie that Paulaner Brewery, the Bavarian brew giant, is planning to open a massive flagship beer hall on the Bowery.

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A study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago found that men are better at solving brainteasers after they have a couple of pints of beer, as reported by the New York Daily News. For the study, male participants were divided into two groups and asked to solve word puzzles. The men in one group drank two pints of beer each; the men in the other group remained sober.

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Expensive wine is on the rise.

People in the U.S. are buying expensive domestic wine again, according to a recent report by the research group Symphony IRI (via The Orange County Register). Sales of bottles priced at $20 or more grew by 24 percent in the first three months of 2012. The top sellers: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.

Expensive wine not doing it for you? Try Van Gogh Vodka's new PB&J vodka, which, according to the company, has a predominately peanut nose and tastes strongly of raspberry on the tongue.

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Billy Abbott

No longer Bond's drink of choice

James Bond will no longer be ordering martinis "shaken, not stirred." The Bond franchise has sealed a marketing deal with Heineken, rumored at $45 million, to have the spy sip on the Dutch beer instead of the usual martini in the upcoming Bond film, Skyfall.

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To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, Johnnie Walker distiller Diageo has released a special blend of whiskey called Diamond Jubilee. It has been in the works, distilling, since 1952, according to Reuters (via Huff Po), and is on sale in Singapore for $198,500 a bottle.

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Is it really a surprise that the World Health Organization and the European Commission found that Europeans drink more than anyone else in the world? No, but the numbers, as reported by Reuters, are still pretty intriguing: The consumption of alcohol in the European Union is double the world average; its citizens on average drink the equivalent of 12.5 liters of pure alcohol per year, almost three glasses of wine per day.

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What's interesting in the world of tipples this week:

Eben Freeman, the man behind the drink program at the Butterfly, Michael White's restaurant opening this summer in Soho, is planning a greatest-hits cocktail menu for the bar, reports Diner's Journal. It would include drinks he conjured up while working at a number of New York City's hottest restaurants, including wd~50.

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A roundup of some great booze stories and lists floating around recently:

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From the "White Line Triple Screw Steamers" booklet

One of the Titanic's restaurants, possibly the site of heavy drinking

In the movie Titanic, which will hit theaters in 3-D in April, we see that passengers on the RMS Titanic in all classes really boozed it up before disaster struck. What exactly were they drinking?

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