St. Catharines Downtown Association

Brendan McMahon won't be hoisting a beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day Wednesday.

Not even a pint of Guinness, the unofficial national drink of his native Ireland.

"For me, it would be a glass of wine, or a nice single-malt whiskey," said McMahon, who runs Cask 22 European Wine Bar and Street Cafe on St. Paul Street.

McMahon laughed at the suggestion his choice might be considered sacrilegious among St. Patrick's Day faithful.

"Well, it might not be typical.... I drank my share of Guinness in my youth, but somewhere along the way I converted to wine. I think it comes with age, a certain level of maturity."

Actually, the St. Catharines oenophile finds plenty to chuckle at in the frenzied North American celebration of the Irish holiday.

Green beer, for example.

"You won't find that in Ireland," he said, grinning. "Nobody dressed in green or anything like they do here. Really, when I was living there it was just a day off to go to the pub. There was never much of a hullabaloo."

With that in mind, McMahon is offering a less-frenzied St. Paddy's Day alternative for folks who would like to raise a glass that isn't filled with beer, black or green.

McMahon, who doesn't normally sell Guinness, is making an exception Wednesday in an effort to coax beer drinkers into the world of wine.

The cafe will be slinging Black Velvets, a mix of sparkling wine and Ireland's black gold.

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