With the Dublin Theatre Festival in full swing, it's the right time to relate one of the most encouraging wine stories I know. It is about how Michael Colgan, the feisty director of the Gate Theatre and a previous director of the festival, switched roles - almost overnight, it seemed - from strict teetotaller to passionate wine lover. And he blames it on theatre people.
"I'd met Karel Reisz, the film director, in London and he said he didn't drink, and I said I didn't either," Colgan explains. "A few months later when he was having dinner with us in Dublin, I noticed a glass of wine in his hand. "I thought you said you didn't drink?" I said, wondering if he was some kind of pathological liar. "This is not drink," Reisz replied. "Beer and spirits are drink. This is culture."
Ah, I like it. Our man from the Gate felt a sealed door beginning to creak open. Then Michael Bogdanov, here to direct A Doll's House, delivered the final shove, urging Colgan to try some wine during an imminent holiday near Bordeaux. "I love it - it's wonderful," says the convert. "It's the greatest decision I ever made."
The real surprise, perhaps, is that this U-turn took so long, because the theatre and wine belong together like leading ladies and cellophaned bouquets. "Good wine is a good, familiar creature if well used", three centuries-worth of Iagos have pronounced - and from what I can gather from a thespian grapevine, we have serious wine enthusiasts such as John Kavanagh, Barry McGovern, T.P. McKenna, Alan Stanford, Niall Buggy, to uphold the connection today - as well as the present festival director, Tony O Dalaigh.
How can the rest of us best combine culture on the stage and in the bottle? To find out, I've done a quick survey of the wines on offer in theatre bars and popular pre- or post-show restaurants. The results are encouraging (in the restaurants, especially), with a large cast of interesting bottles - many with enough character, enough glorious, individualistic oomph, for them to qualify as truly theatrical wines. Leave wimpish, wishy-washy styles for another time, and get into festive gear by picking something with panache.
The Festival Supper Club
Side Door in the Shelbourne (usual menu until 10.30 p.m.; Supper Club menu 10.30 p.m.-midnight).
This year's social hub is a happy choice for wine drinkers, for the Side Door's wine list offers a broad and exciting range of bottles (plus a respectable quota of half bottles). It's helpfully arranged by style - "Lively crisp whites", "Bitter-sweet cherry reds" etc, with a brief and enticing description of each wine, and prices are passable by restaurant standards. Better still, there's something for everybody in this bravely eclectic list, and few bottles, if any, will disappoint. If you don't want to over-indulge, ask for the separate list of house wines - there are eight at £2.60 a glass. From the main list, individualistic whites that perform well include the assertively gooseberryish Chilean De Martino Sauvignon Blanc 1996/7 (£14) and the dry but honey-streaked Ungsteiner Nussriegel Riesling Kabinett Trocken 1995/6 (£20). As for characterful reds, I'd plump for the warming Portuguese Falcoaria, Quinta do Casal Branco, Ribatejo, 1995 (£19) or the smooth Rioja Murice Crianza, Vina Ijalba, 1994/5 (£17) - see Bottle of the Week.
The Trocadero
Andrew Street (early-bird menu from 6 p.m.; last orders 12.15 a.m.).
An unofficial festival club, past, present and probably future, the Troc is always buzzing with a spirited mix of regular theatre-goers (`they come here so much that they all know each other," says one of the staff) and performers. A straightforward, well-written wine list offers some 50 possibilities, from popular Oxford Landing Chardonnay (£15.50, half bottle £8) all the way up to Champagne Dom Perignon (£100).
The bias is more Old World than New, with France and Italy the focal points. Stars from each are Guigal Cotes du Rhone 1995 (£17.50) - a perennial charmer - and Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella 1993 - rich as Christmas cake and very well priced (£21).
Bewley's
Grafton Street (last orders 11.30 p.m.).
Some people will go to Bewley's to see the Harry Clarke room's new interior and sample the new menu. Some will go because they've always gone. But it's my bet that wine fans will go when the word leaks out that there's a wide ranging, well-priced wine list, offering no less than 19 wines by the glass as well as the bottle, out of a total of 24. They're listed according to price (most bottles are well under £20 - just the ticket for a casual meal), with a reasonably adequate description of each. Look out for Jurancon Sec, Grain Sauvage, 1997 (bottle £15, glass £3.75) - "a full bodied wine with pure, concentrated fruit and excellent structure", they say, but the main thing to remember about this distinctive white is that it's rich and spicy. As for reds, try Palacio de la Vega Crianza 1994 (bottle £15, glass £3.75), a nice savoury number from one of Navarra's best producers. Best if you have some savoury food to go with it.
The Mermaid Cafe
Dame Street (open from 6 p.m. during the festival; last orders 11 p.m.).
Ideal for Olympia, TCD and Temple Bar events, the Mermaid is sure to win new fans throughout the festival. In wine terms, there's plenty to enjoy, from modestly priced but perfectly drinkable house wine to all sorts of unusual bottles that you're unlikely to find anywhere else. The only minor problem is the arrangement of the list, which mixes styles, regions, price brackets all together so haphazardly that you may feel punch-drunk just reading it. Persevere. Absolute treats include two top-ranking Californians, Cline Viognier, Carneros, 1996 (£25.50) and Sequoia Gove Cabernet Sauvignon 1995 (£28), and the dense, flavoursome Domaine Saint-Benoit Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1995 (£25.80) - all fairly priced considering their pedigree.
Chapter One
Parnell Square (pre-theatre menu from 6 p.m.).
Many of the theatre-goers who choose this restaurant for its proximity to the Gate and the Abbey come early for a starter and main course, then return for dessert and coffee after the show. The wine list has a traditional feel - partly because it's spread, book-fashion, over pages and pages, and partly because there are plenty of familiar classics from big names. Inexpensive enticements among these include Paul Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets 1995 (£16.50) and, for romance, the fruity Alsace white Hugel Cuvee les Amours 1994 (£14). New World fans aren't neglected, however, with Stoneleigh Estate Sauvignon Blanc 1996, a zesty New Zealander (£16.25), and that big red Australian smoothie, Jamiesons Run, Coonawarra, 1995 (£17.50).
101 Talbot
Talbot Street (open from 6 p.m.)
Unpretentious, intriguing, unbeatable for value . . . that's the style of 101 and it runs from the kitchen into the cellar. There's a little of everything that a body might fancy - decent Chilean house wine (Concha y Toro at just £9.95 a bottle, £6.25 a half litre carafe and £2 a glass); half bottles and quarter bottles, and a more compelling choice of wines, on a single sheet, than you'll find in many a fancier place. Maybe the sheet needs to be a little bigger, however, to allow room for brief descriptions of the 24 wines so carefully sourced from a surprising variety of importers. If you're after something distinctive, prima donna whites are Collavini Pinot Grigio 1997 (£13.75) and the exotically rich but perhaps less flexible Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne 1996 (£13.50). Reds with equal personality are the minty Mitchelton Estate Shiraz 1996 (£13.25) and the famous Umbrian, Lungarotti Rubesco 1995 (£15.95).
Theatre bars - best bets for wine buffs
Gate
A round of applause for the "wines of the month" initiative. Currently on the blackboard are the organic Californians, Fetzer Sundial Chardonnay 1997 and Fetzer Valley Oaks Cabernet 1996 (£11.50 a bottle, £2.50 a glass). A decent selection of half bottles includes the stylish, fragrant Domaine de Poncereau Fleurie, Louis Jadot (£7.95), and snipes of Champagne Moet et Chandon NV (£9.50) are a further cause for celebration.
Abbey/Peacock
High marks all round - for palatable house wines, Rosemount Semillon-Chardonnay 1995 (glass £2.30), Marques de Caceres Rioja 1994 (also £2.30); Champagne Pommery NV (£45); and the citrussy Spanish fizz, Codorniu Cava Brut (£18) - a fun, affordable alternative to champers which goes down a treat with parties of theatregoers. Encore, encore!
Tivoli?
A good selection of bottles that merit their speedy sales. Among the quarters, skip the undistinguished Californians here in favour of Jacob's Creek, either Semillon-Chardonnay or Dry Red, or Trapiche Malbec (all £2.70). Best full bottles are the succulent Santa Rita Merlot 1995 (£14) and Louis Latour Macon-Lugny Les Genievres (£18). Or there's Champagne Laurent-Perrier NV (£40).
Gaiety
Not a huge amount of excitement here, unless you have £38 to splurge on Champagne Bruno Paillard NV. The quarter bottles are fairly forgettable, which is a shame. (Aside to theatre bar managers or wine buyers: taste your quarter bottles before you make your selection. There are plenty of goodies in Ireland now to choose from.)
Olympia
The same limp French quarter bottles as the Gaiety, plus a couple of Californians that don't really deserve plaudits, either. Anybody on a big night out may be tempted by Champagne Pommery NV, however, at £40.