I don't usually go out on St. Patty's Day. Too many amateurs acting like ass-frat 'twads, if you ask me. This year I made an exception. And wound up embracing my inners ass-frat 'twad while bowing down before a midget dressed like a leprechaun. Roll the tape, please...

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Having recently anointed his 2006 Cardinale the best bottle of the year so far, I was excited to sit down for a tasting with Napa Valley winemaker Chris Carpenter, who also heads up operations at Lokoya. We met at Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica on one of those picture-perfect early-spring days that remind east coast natives such as myself why we should never, ever move back to the right coast. (I love ya, Philly, but you're too damn chilly)

Chris is a burly dude from Chicago, where he used to tend bar. Looks more like an ironworker than a winemaker. Talks like he gargles with broken glass and bees every morning. No doubt he could crush me like a grape if he so desired. First thing I thought when we met was thank god this dude makes great wine, because I'd hate to find out how he handles lousy reviews.

Truth is, Chris is more of a brainiac than a bruiser, though I wouldn't say that to his face. He's got a bachelors degree in biology and a masters in business from the University of Illinois to go along with a masters in horticulture from UC Davis. He joined Cardinale Estate in 1998 as an enologist and within a year was promoted to assistant winemaker. A year later, he was named winemaker at Lokoya. He established the Napa Valley Convivium of the Slow Food Movement twelve years ago, and is currently the Convivium Leader and the Vice Chairman on the Slow Food USA Board of Directors, overseeing 12,000 members nationwide. I was so impressed by that last bit that I actually took the time to Google "convivium" to find out what the hell it is. If you'd like to take a minute to do the same, go ahead. I'll wait for you...

Okay, where were we? Right. Drinking wine with Chris Carpenter at Casa Del Mar. First up was the soon-to-be-released 2007 vintage Cardinale, comprised of 86% cabernet sauvignon and 14 percent merlot. I'll tell you what, friends, it was 100 percent delicious. Chris said something about the "orchestral relationship between the elements" in the wine, which sounded so cool that I just had to include it here. Fruity with some zest, yet surprisingly delicate -- no doubt the result of some egg-white fining. It's a young wine, though, and as a result it's tight. A few more years in the bottle, and the '07 Cardinale is bound to be something beyond special -- a truly great California wine. For $200, it ought to be, right? I'm giving it a 95 rating, which in these parts means it is a Rachel McAdams-worthy wine.

And believe it or not it only got better from there. The 2007 Lokoya cabernet sauvignon from Howell Mountain (also $200 a pop) would have made the hair on the back of my palate stand up were that anatomically possible. If the Cardinale is the orchestra, then this is the soloist. What does that mean exactly? I don't know. Chris said it. Turns out that on top of being a biologist/MBA/world-renowned winemaker, he's a frickin' wordsmith too. I'm really starting to hate the guy, frankly. I got nothing but love for his wines, though, and am digging the '07 Howell Mountain cab like I dug me some Rachel McAdams in "The Notebook." How much is that? you ask. Well, it's 96 Imbiber rating points! (Note: After 15 years of aging, this baby will be a 98 or a 99, easy. One wonders, though, will Rachel still be a perfect 10?)

We wrapped up the tasting session with a bottle from Chris's personal stash -- a 1998 Lokoya cabernet sauvignon from Diamond Mountain. Too good to be true... or, for that matter, for me to waste time telling you about since, sadly, there are no bottles left to be had by the general public unless you track some down at auction or online somewhere... or you could go to Napa, look up Chris Carpenter, and ask him to take you to lunch. Ask nicely, though. Like I said, he's a scary mofo.

Until next time, bottoms up.

The hordes of freshly minted bankers, stock traders and lawyers who shoehorn their way into PJ Clarke’s every night may, at first, obscure the 125 years of history that the unassuming watering hole has weathered. But wait for the place to quiet down a bit, and the ghosts will come out. Stand at the spot at the long, sturdy bar where Johnny Mercer wrote “One For My Baby.” Wander into the back room and sit at the corner table inside the little nook – that’s Table 20, Sinatra’s regular spot. Have a cocktail and feel the spirits of Nat King Cole, Jacqueline Onassis, Buddy Holly and so many others who’ve made the place a destination spot for so long.

Clarke’s opened in 1884 at the corner of 55^th St. and 3^rd Ave., and for its first seven decades resided in the shadows of the Third Avenue El, the elevated railway tracks that kept property values low on the avenue until they were torn down in the ‘50s. Today, the squat two-story building inhabited by Clarke’s (and its more upscale upstairs neighbor, Sidecar) is surrounded by massive skyscrapers of glass and steel. But despite a massive renovation a few years ago, it still looks and feels remarkably the same as it did in 1945, when it was seen in the great Ray Milland film The Lost Weekend.

You won’t find craft bartenders with bushy beards who infuse their own vodkas using artisanal ingredients. But you’ll find a thoroughly professional staff, all of whom know how to take care of a large group of people in a small and noisy space, and don’t cut corners when it comes to making a good cocktail. I’ve turned on more than a few bourbon novices to PJ’s excellent Manhattans (I prefer mine with Knob Creek). It’s the perfect ratio of whiskey to vermouth to bitters, delicious on its own or with a Cadillac burger—which consistently places at or near the top of the many “best burgers in NYC” surveys—and their signature home fries.

PJ’s is mobbed virtually every night, with a clientele ranging from 20-something investment bankers to the likes of Jake LaMotta and Christopher Hitchens. The best time to go is late – preferably after midnight on a cold, rainy evening – when you can get some elbow room at the bar or get seated at Sinatra’s Table 20, and commune with the ghosts. Put a couple of bucks into the jukebox and select a few Billie Holiday tunes, and you’ll feel the vibe even more deeply. The kitchen is open until 3:30 and the bar keeps serving for a little while after that, so take your time and drink in a piece of Manhattan’s history while you’re drinking your cocktail.

(FYI, Clarke’s has expanded in recent years, opening two other locations in Manhattan and one in Chicago, but they’re pale imitations of the original at 55^th St.)

My friends over at BroBible.com recently posted a feature about me, "Professional Imbiber Dan Dunn Gives the Dirt on Being Playboy's Party Bro." I loved it. You should check it out. But what's truly an entertaining read is the comments stream at the end of the piece, an impassioned debate about my Bro-worthiness by a bunch of dudes that clearly have a little too much time on their idle hands. Here's a sampling:

Comments
by brorocks mcflow | March 18, 2010 at 2:44 p.m.
legend... true bro

by Br0wnie | March 18, 2010 at 4:11 p.m. lucky guy, i wish i could have the job he has. what a bro

by King Chaymes | March 18, 2010 at 7:14 p.m. This guy is a fucking choch, his piece on gin reeks of d-bag. Playboy writers our notoriously known as being grade-A jabroni's. This cock sucker reminds me of the anti-bro, Tucker Max.

by Natty Lite | March 18, 2010 at 7:26 p.m. couldnt agree more king chaymes. Note the spiked hair with gel.

by Anonymous | March 18, 2010 at 8:29 p.m. Looks like the Situation's older brother

Publicist of the Week: Mark LoCastro

Name: Mark LoCastro

Email: mlocastro@c-k.com

Age: 27

Where you’re from: New York

Where you live: New York

Company you work for: Cramer-Krasselt

Brands repped: Sobieski Vodka

Favorite bar: McSorley's

Favorite drink: The Glenlivet, microbrews, gin, rum, vodka, wine, absinthe, I like em all.

Best-named cocktail of all time and why? The Sobieski Mark Anthony martini: because I created it.

What’s the punchline to your favorite bar joke? Hold on a moment, I'm getting a fax.

If you could have any famous person in history as a drinking buddy, who would it be and why? Leonardo DiCaprio: he's the bait and I'm the trap.

The best thing to drink on airplanes is… Scotch

People tell me I look like… Elvis

In five years I hope to be… rich and retired

If I could be anywhere doing anything right now, I’d be… surfing in a tropical location.

Beer or wine? Why? Wine, because 60 percent of the time, it works everytime.

Parting shot: Jameson

I've said this before, the couple that drinks together, stays together... or goes through several horrible drunken breakups before finally killing each other. Fortunately, the former appears to be the case with Fergie and Josh, as evidenced by this photo taken at Bacardi’s official after party for the Black Eyed Peas following their Denver show at the Pepsi Center.