SO the nation is divided - one half off to where the wine costs less and the sun shines more, the other half - revving up to pack the car for a trek to an Irish holiday cottage. If you find yourself among the stay at homes, as I do this year, one consolation may be that, with the money saved on air or ferry fares, there's a bit more in the kitty for self indulgence.
The other reassuring thought is that, although - helas! - we're missing out on drinkable wine at 12 francs a bottle, we're lucky in Ireland to have the whole world of wine to choose from. Regions and regions to explore, without having to lift a finger further than the corkscrew. I can't think of a better holiday pastime. Here are enough suggestions to fill a holiday case:
. For the arrival celebrations - or the big romantic night in For all out, wheee-we're-away-from-it-all celebration, it has to be champagne - and if it's going to be champagne, it might as well be the Moet & Chandon Champagne.
Brut Imperial 1990 (major Quinnsworths, Foleys, McCabes, Redmonds and other outlets, £29.95-£30.99) - itself a new arrival. Moet has always been popular in Ireland and deserves to be so more than ever, with sparkling Richard Geoffroy responsible for better and better champagne. The latest vintage has toasty richness, even a hint of spice, and a brilliantly zingy, lingering finish. The holiday spirit, bottled.
. For swanning around in the sun . . .
Or sipping with lunch on about day three, when your resolution not to drink at midday has flown out the window ... it needs to be light, refreshing and inexpensive enough to obviate all risk of guilt. Gyongyos Estate Sauvignon Blanc 1995 (Quinnsworth, £4.69) is the answer - Hugh Ryman's gloriously aromatic stroke of Hungarian genius.
. For the barbecue
This wine suddenly develops a whole new dimension with food.
Chivite Gran Feudo Navarra Crianza 1993 (Roches Stores Blackrock, Cork and Galway, Foleys, McCabes, Wine Barrel Sligo, SuperValus Naas and Portarlington and many other outlets about £5.99) has terrific, gutsy flavours which make it tile perfect match for smoky grilled meats, but it also tastes great with a plate of Mediterranean pickings - olives, goat's cheese, salami band all the other savoury titbits that come to the rescue of the holiday cook. Brilliant - and a bargain.
. For the long interval before dinner
When time turns particularly fluid, food seems far off and you still need a drink (or six), nothing fits the bill quite so enticingly as light and steely dry German Riescling. "The closest man has got to bottling the freshness of a spring morning," is how James Nicholson, plunging into lyricism, describes the wines of Dr Ernst Loosen. If you still haven't tried Dr Loosen Riesling 1992 (Mill Wine Cellar Maynooth, £6.99, also James Nicholson), make it a holiday discovery.
. For after the freezing beach outing
You have been out there for hours in the whipping wind, and now, at last, you are back at base, the fire is lit and you aren't setting foot outside the door again this evening. Pull the cork on a bottle of Mount Langhi Ghiran Shiraz 1993 (Superquinn, £10.99), breathe in its gorgeous, plummily rich aromas, then taste it and see how much better you feel. If dinner seems too much effort you might just struggle to the kitchen for a hunk of cheese.
. For the chinese takeaway
If you sniff and say you never touch takeaways, you're lying. Everybody succumbs to the ease of Chinese at some stage of the annual family unwinding the thing is to infuse it with as much extra allure as possible with the addition of some interesting wine. Try Joao Pires Vinho Branco 1993 (Molloys and many other outlets, about £6.99) - a dry Portuguese white made from muscat grapes, whose flavour marries blissfully with oriental tastes.
. For unexpected guests
Oh look, here come John and Sally and the children and we owe them a decent dinner. What on earth are we going to do? Slip a big roast in the oven and open a bottle of Santa Ines Legado de Armida Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 (Roches, Molloys, Mortons Ranelagh, Mulveys Naas and many other outlets, £6.25-£6.99). The last unexpected guests I gave this to were writers for Garnbero Rosso Italy's main wine guide, and they praised it to the skies. A super smooth, serious Cabernet at an unbelievable price.
. For perking up the pasta
Let's not go out again this evening and spend a fortune on shockingly indifferent food, one of you says. Let's stay in, let's economise, let's have pasta. But dammit, sighs the other, we're on holiday! We're supposed to be knee deep in self indulgence! Here is the winning compromise: the pasta and a bottle of magnificent Masi Toar 1992 (Superquinn, Vintry, Deveneys Dundrum, Redmonds and other outlets, £12.99-£13.99) Valpolicella given a unique twist and extra depth through Oseleta, a little known north Italian grape. You'll get marzipan, cherries, plums, complexity and huge pleasure - and still have spent far, far less than the price of dinner in that dire restaurant.
. For summery debate
It's new, it's different - a definite plus, lest holiday boredom should threaten - and it's absolutely delicious. After a glass or two the tongue may even trip easily around the name. Chai de Bordes Quancard Bordeaux Rose 1994 (Kellys Artane, Deveneys, Dundrum, O'Connors Blessington, Henry Downes Waterford and many other outlets, about £7.50) is distinctive - salmon pink, but with the sort of grassy, blackcurrant leaf aromas and flavours you'd expect of a Sauvignon Blanc. It's made for salads and light, summery foods' - especially if the sun happens to shine. Powerful ammunition to hurl against rose haters, too.
. For all intents and purposes
You can argue all you like about the contents of the holiday wine case, but one thing is indispensable. A soft, easy red wine that can be opened on the mildest pretext and enjoyed in just about any situation - a flexible friend that will soothe the driver's jangling nerves after the long journey, keep the cook company in the kitchen, so down well with the wretched in laws when they inflict themselves - and taste as pleasant on its own as with a meal. Domaine de l'Hortus Coteaux de Languedoc 1994 (Wines Direct, £6.99) will sail through it all and keep everybody smiling. See Bottle of the Week.
. For the salmon or seafood feast
Special occasion time and the spanking fresh seafood that remains a mysterious rarity in your home town is on hand at last. crying out for an impressive wine. Take with you in anticipation Clos du Val Le Clos Chardonnay 1993 (Terroirs, £9.69) a mouthwateringly fresh and incredibly classy Californian Chardonnay whose crisp flavours seem to stay for minutes after every mouthful. If more were like this, there'd be no such thing as Chardonnay fatigue.
. For your best holiday memories
This is the stuff for the mental snapshot album - the evenings spent chatting by the fire, happy, relaxed, nursing a glass of something full of the warm flavours of the south. Mazurd Cuvee Mazurka Cotes du Rhone 1988 (McCabes, Redmonds, Verlings, Mortons, Country Choice Nenagh and many other outlets, £10.99-£11.99) is one of those super wines with so many layers of flavour (dark, ripe fruits, herbs, spices, coffee . .. and that's only the beginning of the list), that you can open it with dinner and keep going back for another little sip to unravel, like a strand of conversation, all night.