A Different Sip This St. Patrick's Day

Come March 17th, you'll probably see plenty of green bagels, green doughnut holes, green beer, and even a suddenly, startingly green Chicago river. All fun—but not totally unoriginal!

This St. Patrick's Day, I am going to raise a glass with an interesting history, an Irish link, and a really vibrant taste. While I'm hardly an oenophile, I recently learned about a kind of wine from an area of Spain known as "Green Spain"—the Northwest region of Galicia.

Visitors to this region will find it oddly reminiscent of Ireland, complete with craggy cliffs plunging deep into the sea, Celtic traditions like bagpipes and kilts, and their signature grape: the Albariño! Surrounded by rolling green hills, fjords, and cliffs plunging directly into the sea, the Galicia region of northwest Spain is where Martin Codax Albariño Rias Biaxas wine comes from—a crsip, fruity wine that's sort of hard not to love! (It goes well with all kinds of seafood, in particular.)

Fascinating side facts: More than half of the Rias Biaxas winemakers in the region are women! And Martin Codax himself was actually a late 13th or early 14th century troubadour, which is why the wine's label features a lute, a much-storied stringed instrument.

So while everyone else raises a glass of some, murky dubious-looking green beer next Thursday, consider the Albariño—a subtle, classy (and delicious!) way of giving a toast to the Irish this holiday! Salud!