An Irish filmmaker intent on crafting what he calls a “cinematic toast to Ireland’s culinary and drinks legacy” has found two of his subjects halfway around the world, in the vineyards of Northern California.
In “A Sip of Irish,” now available to rent online, Ireland-based filmmaker Frank Mannion looks beyond the country’s better-known exports – Guinness and whiskey – to celebrate “the achievements of the Irish diaspora,” he said in an interview with The Press Democrat.
That search for the far-flung Irish spirit led him to two local winemakers with deep ancestral roots: Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena Winery in Calistoga and Karen Francis DeGolia of Limerick Lane Cellars in Healdsburg.
“When I got in touch with Bo and Karen, luckily, they were enthusiastic about showcasing their Irish heritage,” Mannion said.
The documentary revisits Chateau Montelena’s storied past – the winery helped put Napa Valley on the global wine map when its Chardonnay won the 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting – and explores how the Barrett family celebrates its Irish identity. Among other things, the winery flies the Irish flag, hosts an annual St. Patrick’s Day lunch and reserves a parking space “for Irish visitors.”
“It’s actually my spot,” Barrett said during a phone interview. “It was my dad’s old spot. I put the sign up as a joke for him, and when he passed away, I took it.”
Barrett described his family as “super Irish.” His father, winery founder Jim Barrett, grew up in Southside Chicago, the son of Irish immigrants, before moving west to California. Bo, whose given name is James Patrick Barrett, holds Irish citizenship.
“When Frank (Mannion) asked me, ‘When did you find out you were Irish,’ I said, ‘about 15 minutes after I was born,’” Barrett said.
Mannion filmed at Chateau Montelena, capturing the winery and its surrounding landscape, as well as Barrett’s reflections for the documentary.
“Bo Barrett is proud to be part of the Irish diaspora,” Mannion said. “And we are very proud of him and all his incredible achievements.”
Limerick Lane Cellars, meanwhile, makes a brief but memorable appearance in the film, which highlights the winery’s popular white Rhône blend, Fáilte (pronounced Fall-cha), named after the Gaelic word for “welcome.”
“Healdsburg is a really charming town with a great history,” Mannion said. “It’s wonderful to find such an evocative Irish name as Limerick Lane Cellars.”
DeGolia, whose heritage is half Irish and half Italian, said the name also has local roots. The winery is situated on Limerick Lane, named by a cattle farmer who immigrated from Limerick, Ireland, in the 1880s.
“But then he must not have had a lot of friends, because all the Italians moved in and planted all the vineyards,” DeGolia joked.
In the 1970s, Irish brothers Michael and Tom Collins bought the property and grew grapes for other wineries before founding Limerick Lane Cellars in the mid-1980s. The winery, best known for its Zinfandels, has recently expanded into Rhône-style wines.
DeGolia said inspiration for the name Fáilte came during a 2022 golf trip to Ireland.
“I’m playing at this place called Old Head, a beautiful course on the ocean,” she recalled. “When you arrive, there’s a big rock, and carved into the rock it says ‘Fáilte Old Head of Kinsale.’ And I said, ‘What does that mean?’ and they said, ‘It means welcome, a big Irish welcome.’”
The word, she said, captures the spirit she associates with white wine.
“When I invite people to my house, I always greet them with a white wine,” she said.
An avid golfer and board member of the PGA, DeGolia plans to return to Ireland in 2027 for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in County Limerick.
“I was stunned by how welcoming and friendly the people were to Americans,” she said. “It was really lovely.”
DeGolia praised Mannion’s film for its striking imagery and wide-ranging portraits of the Irish culinary and drinks world. “A Sip of Irish” features appearances by “Jurassic Park” actor and winemaker Sam Neill, dancer Michael Flatley, Jameson whiskey master blender Deirdre O’Carroll, and Rory Guinness, the great-grandson of brewery founders Arthur and Benjamin Guinness – portrayed by Anthony Boyle and Louis Partridge in Netflix’s “House of Guinness.”