Enjoying Wine In Ireland

It was a happy circumstance that led me to return to Ireland again so soon after my first visit just over a year ago. A friend asked whether my wife and I would like to accompany him and his wife to the quaint town of Kinsale where he had acquired the use of a large, well-situated house for a week in September. During our initial visit, Allie and I had spent two weeks driving from Dublin to Galway and around the nooks and crannies of the southern Irish coast. Kinsale had been our favorite town of the many we had enjoyed then. Finding our calendars clear for the beginning of September, we eagerly accepted the generous invitation, which became all the more so when our friends sadly informed us a few weeks later that a conflict had arisen and they would not be able to make the trip at all. The home had already been fully paid for and the dates were not changeable, so, though disappointed that these friends would miss the trip, we suddenly had the house for the week all to ourselves.

The home was a four-bedroom townhouse on three levels, with an elevator (it never did work during our stay, which seems worse than not having an elevator at all!) There were five bathrooms, a full kitchen, a dining room, a living room and a laundry. On the street level was another “family” room and a single-car garage—in truth more of a large room with over-sized French doors into which a compact car could be, with some effort, maneuvered. Such great fortune could not be squandered on only the two of us, so we began asking friends and family whether someone else would like to share our windfall.

One adventuresome couple agreed and we were on. They are great friends and wonderful travel-mates, so our good luck continued. The trip itself turned out better than any of us could have expected. The weather was mild and almost always dry. The flights were all on time, and left-side driving on the narrow Irish roads was not as harrowing as it had been the first few days of last summer’s trip.

Kinsale is harbor town that in pre-Columbian days was considered the “World’s End.” Today it is an Irish “Tidy Town” of fewer than five thousand permanently residing souls. It has many charms, but it is mainly distinguished from similar Irish towns by its preponderance of very good restaurants. Kinsale is a foodie haven, one for whom the moniker is well-deserved.

I will not use this space to review the many places we enjoyed there, but feel compelled to point out the merits of one, our favorite on each of our visits, The Black Pig. This small establishment is operated by a charming couple who are supported by a cast of similarly engaging young people. The food, as the name might suggest, is presented in an Iberian style and is consistently inventive and wonderful.  The atmosphere is warm and welcoming.

The feature of the Black Pig that I want to emphasize is their approach to wine. A pet peeve of mine is wine lists that are unbalanced, in the sense of having too few mid-priced, high-value bottles and too many showy, over-priced ones. There is a place for high-end wines, and I admire any restaurateur who can maintain a full cellar of them. But I feel that most diners are looking for a good wine that fits the food being served and that does so while not costing several times more than the food it is meant to complement.

The Black Pig in Kinsale has one of the best wine lists I’ve seen anywhere. They offer 200 different wines (way more than necessary IMHO) of which 100 are available by the glass. The most expensive bottle is only 99 Euros!  While I certainly haven’t tried them all (yet!), I’m confident, based on the adequate sample I have tasted, that they are all very good. Since Ireland doesn’t produce wine of its own, the list covers the gamut of Old and New World wines, with an emphasis on those from Spain. On this trip, we and our friends enjoyed several bottles of an Australian shiraz from a winery where our former next-door neighbor now works! It was delightful, a perfect pairing for the meal we devoured, and we enjoyed sending a photo of the four of us drinking his wine in Ireland to our friend Down Under.

It is unmistakable that the Black Pig is serious about its wine. The list is thoughtfully constructed, and the wait staff know it impressively well. Every bottle is opened at the table and decanted.  The foreword to their list expresses their passion for wine and explains the philosophy behind their offerings: they are wine lovers, not wine snobs! I’ll drink to that!