St. Patrick’s Day usually conjures up images of Irish Whiskey, Guinness or green beer (bizarre tradition by the way – sticking food coloring in your beer so that it becomes a radioactive green). If you think that St. Patrick’s Day is only about drinking (probably not too far from the truth for many of our readers – yes, you know who you are), it’s about food as well. Traditional Irish cuisine is a great match for Guinness but it’s also a great match for wines as well. What’s that you say? You think “traditional Irish” and “cuisine” don’t belong in the same sentence? Well, you could be wrong. Irish food has undergone a renaissance of sorts with an emphasis on fresh ingredients direct from the farm. If you’re view of Irish food is English only worse, you are in for a big surprise.

We’ve chosen a number of modern Irish meals that pair wonderfully with wine. Keep an open mind and give them a try.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Thoughts of food on St Patrick’s Day usually start (and sadly end) with Corned Beef and Cabbage. Frankly I can’t stand cooked cabbage so we’ll focus on pairing wine with the star of the dish, the Corned Beef.

Pairing wine with Corned Beef is a little trickier than it first appears. Corned beef is made from brisket and other than a large fat cap across the top, the meat doesn’t have a lot of marbling. Given the bright red color, the first thought might be to go with a big Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah but often some of the fat is redered out in the cooking process so avoid the bigger, tannic wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. We suggest:

Irish Stew

This dish is often cooked with Guinness, which imparts a rich smokiness to it. Yes, we know this is a blog about wine but man doesn’t live by wine alone and we have a soft spot for Guinness (our black lab is even named Guinness). That being said, there are some great wines to accompany a traditional Irish Stew.

The normal rule of pairing wine with a meal is drink what goes into the food. For example, if you cooked with a Burgundy, drink a Burgundy. This is a wine blog however, and drinking Guinness with this stew may be an easy recommendation (tasty as well) but pretty much screws with the idea of recommending wines. I’d go with a medium body Red with this dish.

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Sheppard’s Pie or Cottage Pie

Sheppard’s Pie is traditionally made with ground or minced lamb while Cottage Pie uses ground or minced beef. Both are made with a thick gravy and have a layer of buttery mashed potatoes as a top crust. Try the following recipe with lamb for Shepard’s Pie or substitute ground beef for Cottage Pie.

To me this dish screams rich gravy. The lamb or beef is likely to have a little more fat than the first two dishes so you want something with some tannins. A Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, or a Nebbiolo would be quite tasty.

Fish and Chips

Lest you think that we’ve forgotten about anything for white wine, Fish and Chips are probably the quintessential Irish/English food. Surprisingly, fish and chips don’t have a long history. Unlike the other dishes we’ve suggested, fish and chips have only been around for about 150 years but they have quickly become a staple on the British Isles.

Riesling or Pinot Grigio are a perfect compliment. If you want something a little more adventurous with a hint of spice, try an Albarino.

Riesling (we suggets a dry one so the acid can help cut the fat from the frying process)

Pinot Grigio

Albarino

Go get your Irish on this St. Paddy’s Day, prepare to shovel some blarney, think outside the box, and have some wine. Just don’t put any green food coloring in it or if you do, don’t tell us.

Enjoy, and cheers, from Winery-Sage.com.

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