Saint Patrick's Day: Irish Food & Wine Pairing Suggestions

“Irish”  Cuisine Paired with Winning Wines and Festive Films

Let’s talk Ireland and wine. Ireland and wine? The phrase does not roll trippingly off the tongue. Yet after years of being a beer nation, Ireland is birthing more and more inhabitants inexplicably enamored with wine. Total wine sales more than quadrupled between 1990 and 2007. What’s going on?

And for those who don’t drink beer, or traditionalists who crave a twist, we look at Americans’ favorite Irish foods paired with wines. No obvious pairing candidates come to mind when we ponder corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips or bangers and mash. But when the homework is done and compatible partners for these popular twosomes are discovered, the results are irresistible.

Following is a description of each dish and its history plus suggested varietal matches with clear rationales. Admittedly, not each dish listed originated in Ireland, but all are loved and eaten by the Irish, whether in their homeland or by the American Irish. The point is to include well known dishes that are typically served with beer.

Irish movie pairings are thrown in for fun, covering several genres. Next, suggestions for dining out in the Bay Area, Irish style, are listed. Finally, an update on Ireland and its growing love for wine is explored.

EATING IN
1. THE DISH: Corned Beef and Cabbage
“A boiled supper.” This stereotypical Irish-American meal is characterized as such time and again in recipes and descriptions. The phrase can underwhelm the neophyte, so that he is pleasantly surprised when the aromas of the duo waft up from his plate. The salty beef married to the tender cabbage has pleased generations of Irish Americans. Irish “Americans”? Although cabbage is among Ireland’s most enduring staples, it is normally prepared with pork (similar to what Americans consider Canadian bacon) in Ireland. At the turn of the century, Irish immigrants in New York City began to substitute bacon with corned beef due to the unavailability of pork on the lower east side of Manhattan, where most of the butchers were Jewish neighbors.

THE WINE: Sonoma Pinot Noir
Pinot noir spans a broad spectrum of flavors, aromas and mouthfeel, but typically, the wine is light to medium viscosity and color with a dark fruit aroma and flavor. Pinot noir or “Burgundy” from France traditionally yields a barnyard nose, but current trends are toward delicate, fruit-forward profiles. Sonoma pinot noirs range from a dense, black cherry character, classic for Russian River Valley, to a lighter, spicier example, seen more often in Carneros. If harking from the Sonoma Coast, the pinot noir shows a compromise between the two styles, bright with acidity.

THE PAIRING PRINCIPLE:
Bold reds might overpower a dish that is more delicate, due to being boiled. If the beef were roasted, perhaps a zinfandel or syrah might work to support its resulting depth of flavor. However, most cooks boil this meal. Stephanie Perry of The Irish Bank Restaurant in San Francisco advises “. . . depending on how flavorful the corned beef is, you could go with a variety of wine choices. A pinot noir from Sonoma would do well in bringing acidity to the dish. If you wanted to go with something a little bolder, I would suggest a malbec from Argentina.” See more about the Irish Bank under Dining Out, below.

THE MOVIE: My Left Foot, 1989
Mistaken for a mentally-retarded hopeless, cerebral palsy victim Christy Brown works with his dedicated teacher, to become a celebrated painter, poet and author, using . . . his left foot. Obviously a drama, the film is peppered with humor for a well-rounded and fascinating movie experience. Adult Christy is played by the compelling Daniel Day-Lewis.