At last, a few blasts of overdue sun have sent us hurtling out of doors to act all continental. So let's take a look at some restaurants, dotted around the country, where you can eat and drink al fresco with no fuss. I've been poring over a pile of wine lists - this time with an eye out for bottles that won't add more than £20 to your bill.
At the risk of sounding like a one-track Moaning Minnie, I have to say this kind of wine check is frustrating. There are still too many dreary bottles on lists cobbled together with minimal effort. Why, oh why, at a time when the Irish market is awash with stupendous wines of every kind? The old hang-up about avoiding good bottles that are available in retail outlets still persists - apparently out of fear that customers will choke at the restaurant mark-up. Foolish, I think: people eat out often enough these days to know very well that they'll have to pay twice as much in a restaurant as in a shop. It's only restaurateurs with their hearts set on much steeper mark-ups who need to worry about hiding behind unfamiliar labels. And then there's the business of how badly many lists are written - often leaving out vital details like the producer's name or the vintage (especially when it's not that great). Or failing to give even the briefest descriptions. Why this somnambulist approach at a time when Ireland's wine consumption is racing ahead at record speed? Sorry, but this kind of thing makes me madder than a month of no-sun days. Let's raise a glass to better things ahead. Including some al fresco treats.
Powerscourt Terrace Restaurant, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow: Maybe that perfect view across the gardens to the peak of the Sugar Loaf provides a kind of inner glow, maybe the long bulwark of the house provides good shelter, but this terrace is one you can depend on for comfort. I've even lunched here outdoors in November, tucking in to Avoca's simple, tasty food. A short Findlaters-dominated wine list, offering a few halves and quarters in addition to full bottles. The flavour is mainly New World, with safe perennials like Penfolds Rawson's Retreat and Concha y Toro Sunrise - drinkable if not exactly mindblowing. Top tip: Barbera d'Asti, Alasia, 1995 (restaurant price £11.95; also available in Superquinn, Molloys Liquor Stores, Redmonds Ranelagh, McCabes Merrion, Higgins Clonskeagh, Thomas's Foxrock, CheersGibneys Malahide, Bennetts Howth, Jus de Vine Portmarnock, Vineyard Galway, Fahy's Ballina, usually about £7.50). A juicily refreshing, moreish Italian red: Barbera at its most user-friendly.
Tel: 01-2046066
Ballymore Inn, Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare:
The benches outside are in high demand when the sun shines on this excellent establishment, where Barry and Georgina O'Sullivan breath new life into the tired old concept of pub grub.
This is a James Nicholson-sourced wine list, with all the quality and diversity that implies, at a reasonable price. Champagne Billec art-Salmon NV is a terrible temptation at £38.50, but look to New World performers like Bests, Shaw & Smith, Fairview and Nor- ton to answer the needs of the under£20 quest.
Good buy: Norton Malbec, Mendoza, 1995 (£16.50 in restaurant; also available in McCabes Merrion, Mill Wine Cellar Maynooth and some other retail outlets, usually about £6.99). From one of Argentina's best producers, a full-flavoured, chewily satisfying, knife-and-fork red.
Tel: 045-864585
Wineport Glasson, Athlone: Sitting out on Wineport's decking on a balmy summer evening, looking over Lough Ree, you could almost imagine you were on the Mediterranean - with cooking smells to foster that illusion.
The wine list here is only an appetiser: there's a more extensive collection of bottles in the cellar, where guests have full browsing rights. But it's certainly appetite-whetting - lively and broad in scope. Some terrific descriptions in half-a-dozen words (1981 Chateau Haut Brion: "gentle old lady, waiting for a quiet chat". Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Riesling: "Germany meets California, then . . . wow!"). Ten wines by the large glass are a good thing, too, and Henri Goutorbe Brut is very decent champagne at £30. Some vintage details are the only thing that's missing . . .
Worth trying: Enate Rosado, Somontano, 1998 (restaurant price £17.50; also available at Redmonds Ranelagh, Thomas's Foxrock, Vineyard Galway and a few other retail outlets, usually about £9.50). Spanish rose at its most stylish - deliciously fresh with a very long, dry finish.
Tel: 0902-85466
Kirwan's Lane, Kirwan's Lane, Co Galway: The tables are out, the canopies up and, if you're lucky, a jazz quartet may strike up in this enclave of civilised living. Kirwan's Lane - both the lane itself, with various foodie lures, and the eponymous restaurant - is now one of the best excuses for swanning about Galway.
The wine list isn't as adventurous as Michael O'Grady's food, but it offers a reasonable choice. France has the lion's share; well-priced bottles from elsewhere include Carmen Cabernet and Sauvignon from Chile, the easy Spanish red Raimat Abadia and Antinori's Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico.
Warm weather star: Hugel Pinot Blanc, Cuvee Les Amours, Alsace, 1996 (restaurant price £14.50; also available in McCabes Merrion, Vintry Rathgar, Vineyard Galway, Feeneys Salthill and some other outlets, about £8.50). A wine that deserves a much bigger fan club. See Bottle of the Week.
Tel: 091-568266
Whitethorn, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare: There aren't too many restaurants with terraces so close to the sea that you could fling the last drops from your glass into the rock pools . . . but this is one. And the slabs of Liscannor soak up every bit of heat from an intermittent sun.
Best of all, here's a cracking selection of wines, hand-picked from a multiplicity of sources and described with verve - a beacon of a list that shows many others up as the boring, slothful old things that they are. Haute Provence Semillon from South Africa, a good Gruner Veltliner from Austria, a fab Albarino - these and 30 other bottles, 25 half bottles, 10 wines by the glass, without a dud in sight. Top tip: Heggies Eden Valley Riesling 1994 (restaurant price £15.70; the 1996 is currently on sale in Vintry Rathgar, Redmonds Ranelagh, McCabes Merrion, Cooneys Harold's Cross, Foleys Cabinteely, Higgins Clonskeagh, Cheers Shankill, Quinns Drumcondra, Londis Malahide, O'Donovans Cork area, usually about £9.99). One of the loveliest Australian Rieslings, ripe and slightly honeyed but fresh as a breeze.
Tel: 065-77044
Ballymaloe Garden Cafe, Shanagarry, Co Cork: Sit within a freerange chicken's trot of Darina Allen's unfolding collection of gardens (the formal herb garden and organic vegetable garden are still all-time favourites). There's also creative inspiration to be derived from the hot Mexican decor of the Garden Cafe. The winelist is one of those built mainly around wines which are unavailable at retail level; it is being revamped, according to suppliers Febvre, to offer better balance. Current best bets: De Martino Sauvignon Blanc, Maipo Valley, 1998 and De Martino Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, 1998 (both £6.95 per halfbottle in restaurant). You may be familiar with these excellent Chileans under the Santa Ines label that is reserved for the retail trade. The two were bargain January Bottles of the Week (Molloys Liquor Stores, many SuperValus/Centras/Roches Stores, Mortons Ranelagh, McCabes Merrion, Londis Malahide, Shankill, Clane and other outlets, usually £5.99)
Tel: 021-646422
Hayes's Bar, Glandore, Co Cork: The high point of Glandore's main thoroughfare, in every sense. A vertiginous, dreamy view - all the way down to the long fiord of Glandore harbour, and there are enough tables outside for plenty of malingering customers to drink it in, sustained by Ada Hayes's unpretentious food and Declan Hayes's passion for wine. What other pub do you know that sells the likes of Chateau Musar 1991 by the glass (at any price, let alone £3.50)? Or that deep pink wonder, Chateau Thieuley Clairet 1998 (only £3)? Meaty pleasure: Condado de Haza, Ribera del Duero, 1996 (£3.20 a glass; also available from Searsons Monkstown, £10.65, On the Grape Vine Dalkey, Wine Centre Kilkenny, O'Donovans Cork area and some other retail outlets). Young brother of Spain's famous Pesquera, with the same rippling muscles and brooding presence. Great drinking.
028-33214
McCluskeys Bistro, 18 High Street, Waterford:
In fine weather, the McCluskeys are glad of their licence to put a few tables out just across the street, where the pavement is wider. This means about 16 customers can enjoy their relaxed, cosmopolitan cooking in the sort of maritime-urban setting that usually requires a ferry ride to France. Not a bad wine list, courtesy of Febvre - about 16 bottles, four half-bottles, a couple of champagnes and a dessert wine by bottle and glass, with the dependable De Martino white and red (see Ballymaloe Garden Cafe above) as house wines.
Safe bet: Chateau Lamarche Bordeaux Superieur, 1996 (£15 in restaurant; also available from Redmonds Ranelagh, Vintry Rathgar, Viney ard Galway, usually £8.99-£9.49). Classic, middle-of-the-road red Bordeaux with good depth of flavour and round tannins at an easy price.
Tel: 051-857766