Pairing Off: It's time for corned beef, cabbage and a fine wine.

St. Patrick’s is the day Americans celebrate Irish tradition in ways not particularly Irish. But hey, mangled appropriation is what we do.

And that means corned beef and cabbage will be appearing on restaurant chalkboards and family dinner tables—meat supporting a rack of herbs and spices, leaves that can turn funky, sweet or bitter depending upon how it’s prepared.

Selecting a wine to accompany the dish might just foil the experts. Despite the degree of difficulty, Roslyn Anderson of the spanking new Vin Wine Bar + Bottle Boutique in the Carmel Crossroads was quick to offer a suggestion.

“Guinness.”

Yes, she’s probably right. This is, however, a wine pairing column and she bears the title Chief Wine Officer. She’s an owner of Vin, why not be CWO, as well? Far more glamorous than CFO.

“Let’s see,” she begins again after chuckling over her first response. “I think it pairs really well with a red that’s high in acid and fruity.”

Anderson is not so keen on a white for the dish, but believes a Riesling or Pinot Gris wouldn’t suffer. She favors either Beaujolais or a Cabernet Franc, both of which can be hard to come by with Monterey County grapes.

Mirassou once produced a notable Gamay Beaujolais. For Cab Franc, most people trek to the Sierra foothills—except the crew at Joullian Vineyards.

The 2017 Joullian Vineyards Cabernet Franc is the vintage current at their Carmel Valley tasting room, made with grapes from the San Antonio Valley.

On the nose the wine presents itself as big, with potent fruits, brambles, sliced bell peppers and a hint of dark chocolate. But that’s like its social media presence. A sip brings out pleasantries—fresh strawberries, ripe plum, with a leavening of spent spices, some green notes you chase but can’t quite pin down all leading to a juicy finish.

Good on its own, clearly. But the corned beef in question was prepared at home with salt and pepper, spicy mustard, onion and garlic, crushed bay leaf, dill, brown sugar, cloves—probably could go on. The holiday spice stood out from the crowd. Cabbage leaves were finished under the broiler for a sweet and smoky haze.

Against this array the Joullian Cab Franc gathered its strength, becoming bolder with the fruit matching its prominence on the nose. A hint of dry chili rub emerged from its depth to take on the cabbage while all that fruit muted the saltiness of the meat.

There was more on the plate, and that’s where things became really interesting. Onion, carrots, roasted garlic, potatoes all played a little differently with the wine. For instance, slabs of potato were greeted with a swell of bell pepper from the Cab Franc—a neat combination.

So this was a pairing that gave a lot. Yeah, nothing wrong with a frothy Guinness for St. Pat’s. But the Cab Franc from Jouillan proves you can do better.