The Drinking of the Green

'Tis the day to be Irish, or at least pretend to be.

Across the world, wherever an Irish pub has sprung up (and that's pretty much everywhere; there's even one in Kabul), people will be dressing in strange costumes, wearing big hats and wishing each other that most un-Irish of greetings "Top o' de morning". Everyone will be Irish for a day.

Except, of course, they won't. Even if all the people in the world who claim Irish heritage were actually, incontrovertibly Irish, it would still amount to a mere 1 percent of the world's inhabitants, or a mere five percent of the population of India.

And yet, everyone gets their freak on for March 17th to celebrate the life of a man who – if he existed at all – might not even have set foot in Ireland. Why is that? Why has the world decided to pretend to be Irish for one day of the year, and why do they assume that being Irish means drinking all day long?

I can assure you, as Wine-Searcher's resident Irishman, that such behaviour is far from the norm. For a long time, St Patrick's Day wasn't really celebrated in Ireland, and you had to go to the US to find a parade or a river of green beer. These days in Ireland, thanks almost entirely to the marketing department at Guinness, it is virtually compulsory to get to a pub as early as possible and drink until you measure your length along the pavement outside.

It doesn't have to be this way, you know. Certainly, I have celebrated a few St Paddy's Days (and it isn't St Patty, by the way – ever) in the "traditional" fashion – in the pub at 7 am for a fried breakfast, followed by steady intake of ales, porters and spirituous liquors "until time and times are done", as Yeats would have it. They were great fun, these occasions, accompanied by companions of boisterous character; rakes and musicians, creating a merry debauch with pipe and fiddle and a glass of whatever you're having yourself.

But that's a young man's game, and many of the roaring boys of a decade ago are quieter now – if not altogether silent – and St Patrick's Day less frantic. It's still enjoyable, but these days I have learned the true trick of age – it is better to have quality than quantity.

So what to drink on the day itself? Well, it wouldn't be complete without a glass of stout at least. Guinness has done such effective marketing that it is now synonymous with Irish stout and St Patrick's Day, but there are others that deserve a look in too. If you can lay your hands on it, O'Hara's Stout, from the small but brilliant Carlow Brewing, is well worth the effort. For myself, I'll be trying to lay my hands on some George Killian's, as I knew him and his family when I was growing up in Wexford, so the beer tastes of nostalgia and homesickness (vital ingredients of any St Patrick's Day experience) as well as hops and malt.

I suppose it's inevitable that whiskey will come into the equation at some stage of the day, so we'd better address that next. While the most popular Irish whiskeys (Tullamore Dew and Jameson) will no doubt do a roaring trade on the day, I prefer to keep something a little special in reserve for March 17. Perhaps one of the impressive Jameson reserve whiskeys, or the new 12-year-old Tullamore Dew cask strength expression might be suitable, or even a drop of Midleton Very Rare.

I'm a pot still man, myself, so I would veer more towards the rich, robust Redbreast, which comes in a variety of expressions; the 15 year old is close to perfection. Green Spot is another great pot still whiskey, as is Power's, a genuinely great little whiskey from the Midleton distillery. And, in the end, there's always the mighty Black Bush to fall back on, a whiskey that never fails to please.

Sadly, Ireland isn't famous for its wine, but that's no reason to turn your back on the grape entirely. With hearty fare of the stew and corned beef variety no doubt adorning tables and assailing tastebuds everywhere, perhaps a drop of Bordeaux might be in order. In which case those châteaux with Irish roots should provide some pretty excellent drinking.

There are 14 Bordeaux producers with Irish roots and the quality level is pretty impressive. It is tempting to claim Château Haut-Brion (O'Brien) as one of our own, but I think Léoville-Barton, Lynch-Bages and Kirwan are adequate replacements.

My own pick would be Château Phélan Ségur, founded by a Tipperary merchant, Bernard O'Phelan, who arrived in Bordeaux in the late 18th Century. He married into the influential Guestier family (which eventually entered a partnership with another Irish family, the Bartons) and created the estate. It wasn't part of the 1885 Classification, but it has an average score of 91 and an average price of just $53, which provides good value for money. And the estate's managing director, Veronique Dausse celebrates her birthday on St Patrick's Day, fittingly cementing the château's Irish connection.

Whatever you drink to celebrate Ireland's national day, make sure it's something exquisite and, as we say at home, go n-éirí an bothar libh, may the road rise with you. Sláinte.