5 nights in Lisbon, 4 in Catalonia (La Rapita, halfway between Barcelona and Valencia, and an olive finca in hills above). In Lisbon sharing a lovely AirBnb with another Dobbs Ferry couple, then they went north while we went east. Both Portugal and Spain were visiting friends who moved there. I was only wine geek, and we did no wine visits. Lots of house wines in restaurants (great values if not great wines). The 3 places that had fairly serious lists I didn't indulge- a lunch where I would have been only one drinking, an Italian place with modernista Italian wines, and a tapas place with nice bottles, but I only wanted one glass. Notes were sketchy, and I maybe didn't get all info on every wine.
2018 Casa de Saima Bairrada Garrafeira
Cassis and black cherries, tree bark, a little smoke, rich but with slightly grating tannins. B/B+
2019 Quinto di Carno Baga
Soft and easy, ripe black fruit, soft finish. B
2023 Palacio da Brejoeira Alvarhinho
Snappy Vinho Verde, touch of spritz, citrus and saline. Probably just an ok wine, but helped by the incredible shellfish at Ramiro. B
2023 Soalheiro Alvarinho
Bright acids, nutty notes and citrus, good. Nice with sardines, mussels, and canaílhas (spiny dye murex!) B
2022 Marofa Adamado
Well, this was cold on a warm night in a lovely garden, but that was best thing about it. Touch sweet, a bit dilute, totally forgettable. C+
2023 JP Azeitao Moscatel Graudo Fernao Pires
Overly floral, lightly sweet, quite short, I coulfdn’t drink this but it didn’t seem to hurt mussels when used for cooking,. C-
(I noticed on TAP Air Portugal JP was producer of economy class wines, made me glad I was abstaining)
There were also a couple of wines I was totally confused by producer. One Georgian orange wine, a Khikhvi from the Kakheti region, had a name that might have been LALEN, but written in Georgian letters (not same as Cyrillic) Tangy, tea and citrus, more interesting than good. A 2019 Rabigato was terrible, but didn’t get producer. A rose (that seemed more like an orange wine) called Humus was actually interesting and fun with a chorizo snack. A white served from carafe at a fado place was adequate.
In Catalonia mostly had house wines with tapas. At one place I ordered the 2023 Lorenzo Cachazo Rueda (blend of Verdejo & Viura), a bright slightly grassy white that was fine for 3 euros. And a supermarket bottle of 2023 Agusti Torello Mata “XIC” Xarel-lo (Penedes) reminded me of why Xarello maybe should just be used for cava (C+).
Several Cs there, but reality lots of house wines I didn't mention were quite decent at 3-4 euros (or free).
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.