Raising a glass for Spain and Portugal’s wine ties

De Espanha nem bom vento, nem bom casamento (From Spain, neither a fair wind nor a good marriage). This old Portuguese saying, born out of more than half a century of Spanish rule –disastrous for Portugal’s colonial empire– lingers in the collective memory. It reflects not only historical grievances but also a certain Spanish tendency to dismiss what we don’t fully understand, including our Atlantic neighbour.

Fortunately, increased travel and tourism have helped dismantle these prejudices. Today, many Spaniards admire Portugal’s effortless bilingualism, their calm and respectful character, and unwavering connection to tradition, evident in cities and villages that have retained their unique identity.

Recently, at Simplesmente Vinho in Porto –a fantastic wine fair open to both professionals and the public–  both Amaya and I witnessed this appreciation firsthand. Since its inception in 2013, the event has hosted a handful of Spanish producers alongside a majority of Portuguese winemakers. Simplesmente runs concurrently with Esencia do Vinho, Portugal’s longest-standing wine fair, but offers a more relaxed, informal setting. As its director, João Roseira, puts it, Simplesmente Vinho showcases wines "without makeup." This year’s lineup of Spanish participants included, among others, Daniel Ramos (Sierra de Gredos), Gemma Miró (Priorat), Federico Schatz (Ronda), Alfredo Maestro (Peñafiel), and Anna Martí (Ca n’Estruc, Montserrat).

Luis Gutiérrez, Spain and Portugal’s critic for The Wine Advocate, considers Simplesmente Vinho the most compelling wine fair in Portugal today. "Like Spain, Portugal is searching for its true identity beyond fleeting trends like whole-cluster fermentation," says Gutiérrez, who has visited Portugal regularly since 1998. "The country still boasts many local grape varieties and old vines, but unlike Spain, daily wine consumption at home remains a tradition, though it is slowly shifting towards a more restaurant-based model."

Jerez, the guest region

Among the 124 wineries gathered at the Alfândega building on the banks of the Douro, 14 hailed from Jerez, this edition’s guest region. Interestingly, most of them showcased white wines rather than Sherry, reflecting Simplesmente Vinho’s curiosity about emerging trends in Jerez. Winemakers such as Ramiro Ibáñez, Luis Pérez, and Bodegas Tradición were joined by lesser-known names like Barrialto, Vinifícate, Agrícola Calcárea, El Piraña –the only grower from Trebujena who also bottles his own wines– and Pepe Blanco, who has recently launched a new range of white wines from Sanlúcar following the closure of Callejuela, the family estate.

Raúl Moreno, one of the Spanish winemakers with the deepest knowledge of Portugal, was also present with his wines as well as with those of his partners (Sotovelo and Diatomists). Fluent in Portuguese, Moreno has worked at Esporão and Quinta dos Murças, researched Portuguese grape varieties for climate adaptation in Australia, and co-founded Vinhos Sem Fronteiras with Tiago Macena, a future Portuguese Master of Wine, to make wines in the Alentejo combining grapes and styles from both countries. "I enjoy working with the Portuguese because they are noble and humble people. Many of their grape varieties could help parts of Spain to combat climate change," he explains. To test this, he has planted Portuguese varieties like Baga, Castelão, and Encruzado in Sanlúcar, alongside Arinto, which he already uses to add acidity and aromatic complexity to wines such as Destellos and La Esencia.

Armando Guerra, known for his work at Barbadillo, also attended Simplesmente Vinho but on this occasion, he was there with the wines from his famous Taberna der Guerrita in Sanlúcar, which he manages with his family. The detailed tasting book provided to all attendees described how Vinos Según Cede was established "to formalise the production of bulk wines served at the tavern since 1978." However, the Guerra family also bottles white wines –preferring this term to "vino de pasto." The Sanlúcar producer, who led a tasting alongside Luis Gutiérrez and Dirk Niepoort, noted that ties between Spain and Portugal have strengthened significantly in recent years. "Perhaps it goes unnoticed, but many people in Portugal appreciate Spanish culture, including our wines. Since the first Innoble festival, the Portuguese have been loyal attendees," he explains. "Some asked us to print our magazine in English, but we chose Spanish and Portuguese –the languages of our readers."

The influence of Niepoort

No one has done more to strengthen the vinous ties between Spain and Portugal than Dirk Niepoort. Luis Gutiérrez, who met him in 1998, describes him as "the driving force behind Portuguese wine in the 21st century," comparing him to Spain’s Raúl Pérez. "Dirk knows how to connect with people, is dynamic, creative, and instinctively ahead of the curve."

Probably because of this natural gift when it comes to dealing with people, Niepoort, the fifth generation of a family of Dutch origin, has forged numerous Iberian collaborations. The first Sidecar wine, a collaboration between Susana Esteban, the Spanish winemaker living in Portugal, and other wine producers, was made with Dirk Niepoort. He has also left his mark in several wines in Spain: with Guímaro in Ribeira Sacra (Ladredo) and in the Douro, Raúl Pérez (Ultreia Douro), and Telmo Rodríguez (Omlet). But his most impactful Spanish venture was with the Navazos Team. "The first modern white from Jerez, Navazos Niepoort 2008, was Dirk’s idea. He envisioned a light, unfortified wine with the character of the Jerez soil," recalls Gutiérrez. "Jesús Barquín and Eduardo Ojeda weren’t convinced at first, but Dirk’s determination made it happen."

Seventeen years later, Niepoort returns to make wine with friends in Jerez -this time is Niepoort Manzanilla Solera, a selection of three barrels from Barbadillo. Aged for three years, the wine prioritises freshness, elegance, and drinkability over a strong flor character. Presented at Simplesmente Vinho, it will soon be available for around €22.

Niepoort has also spearheaded Nat Cool, an international movement that builds bridges between producers. Its mission is to make low-alcohol wines with local grapes that are easy to drink, affordable and sold in one-litre bottles for casual enjoyment. The first Nat Cool was made from the Baga variety in Portugal; today, the range spans almost two dozen wines, including Spanish producers like Suertes del Marqués (Tenerife), Viña Zorzal (Navarra), L'Enclós de Peralba (Penedès), El Hato and Garabato (Arribes) and, shortly, Javi Revert in Valencia.

In the pipeline, and apart from Nat Cool, there is at least one more Niepoort project in Spain. It will be in Gredos, with Comando G, as Daniel Niepoort, Dirk's son, told us.

As well as being a great driving force for Iberian wine, Niepoort’s still wine bodegas in Douro, Bairrada and Dão serve as incubators for talent. Luis Seabra, once Niepoort’s head winemaker, launched his own brand in 2013. He now crafts his own wines in the Douro and Monçao and Melgaço, on the border with Galicia, where he produces a Vinho Verde with the Alvarinho variety under the name Granito Cru, which he has now expanded to Dão. Seabra, who advised Suertes del Marqués in Tenerife for several years, is now helping Saíñas, the Ribeira Sacra winery run by Saleta Fernández and Jorge Suárez, whom he met during a training course at Galicia's Ingavi school. Five hectares of vines on granite soils by the river Cabe, with local varieties grown without herbicides and aged between 20 and 90 years.

It was at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona that a friendship blossomed between Luis Pedro Cândido da Silva, now technical director of Niepoort's still wine range, and the Canarian producer Carmelo Peña (Ikewen, Jable de Tao). "On the first day of class, Carmelo asked the teacher to repeat in Spanish what he had just explained in Catalan. I didn't understand Catalan at the time, but I felt a huge sense of relief –much so that I waited for him after class to thank Carmelo," explains Cândido da Silva in perfect Spanish. 

That day marked the beginning of a lasting friendship, which continued when Carmelo briefly worked at Niepoort and later solidified into El3mento, the joint project they launched in 2017 in the Douro. They selected a century-old slate vineyard at 600 metres elevation in Barcos–Tabuaço, where Cândido da Silva also oversees winemaking at his family’s Quinta da Carolina. The process they followed was as unfiltered as their philosophy: vinification in demijohns, spontaneous fermentation, whole clusters lightly trodden by foot, no temperature control, four months of maceration, and no sulphites.

Soon, El3mento will expand to six wines, covering Douro, Vinho Verde, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Switzerland (in partnership with Silou Wines in Neuchâtel), and Itata in Chile. All are made in amphorae using the same artisanal methods. And as Cândido da Silva puts it, ego has no place here: “It’s not an orchestra; we are tenors. Each of us oversees production in our own region, but we all participate in the tasting and blending.”

The vineyard is deeply woven into the culture, rural life, and landscape of both Portugal and Spain, and this is precisely what winemaker Luis Lopes seeks to capture with Moreish, his itinerant project of “free and non-DO” wines. According to Lopes, the personality of these wines evolves depending on the people, regions, and grape varieties he works with.

Lopes also lends his expertise to wineries such as Dominio de Açor –one of our favourite producers at Simplesmente Vinho– and Quinta das Marías, both in Dão. Since 2019, he has also been advising Palacio Quemado, Alvear’s red wine bodega in Extremadura. This 18th-century estate has around 100 hectares under vine, largely planted with Tempranillo (popular for local consumption) alongside French varieties like Syrah and Petit Verdot. But Lopes' heart lies with Garnacha Tintorera, introduced when Envínate began working at Palacio Quemado. “Our first step was controlling production and managing canopy cover to protect the grapes and ensure even ripening. Next, we’ll work on lengthening the wine with the use of stems and refining the variety’s fruit profile,” he explains.

At Palacio Quemado, they also grow Portuguese varieties like Trincadeira Preta and Arinto, both perfectly adapted to the soils and climate of Tierra de Barros in this bordering area in southwest Spain. One standout is La Raya, a red wine made from Trincadeira Preta, fermented in concrete and aged in foudre. It seems like the right path given that climate change poses increasing challenges: “Since 2021, we’ve seen a rise in esca affecting Tempranillo, as well as vines dying from water stress,” says Lopes.

His interest in learning more about the soils and areas where he works led him to create Monte Ilha, an Arinto wine from granite soils in Dão. Fermented in a cask, Lopes inoculates yeast brought from the Alvear winery in Montilla to later age this wine for 17 months on the lees. The result? A bold, umami-rich white with notes of curry and a saline finish. Encouraged by this success, Lopes now plans to experiment with Bical, another variety from Dão, using the same approach.

A Basque in the Douro

For Mateus Nicolau de Almeida from Porto and Teresa Ameztoy from San Sebastián, identity is shaped by the diversity of their terroir and grape varieties. Both hail from wine families—Mateus' father worked at Ramos Pinto in Porto, while Teresa's father was at Murúa in Rioja—and their paths converged in Bordeaux, where they met as students. But rather than follow in their families' footsteps, they struck out on their own, culminating in the establishment of their winery in 2015 in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in the Upper Douro, near the Arribes del Duero Natural Park.

Before moving to Portugal, Teresa worked for Viniberia in Jerez, La Mancha, and other Spanish regions. She remains struck by the deep respect shown to her in Portugal: “When I’m in the vineyard, they call me ingeniera as a sign of respect. The social stratification here is more evident than in Spain,” she notes. She also observes a slower pace of life –though no less advanced. “In Portugal, I’ve experienced traditions and techniques that have faded in Spain. Yet, paradoxically, when everything was already digitised here, I remember still having to do in-person paperwork in La Mancha. We tend to think we are ahead of our Iberian neighbour, but that’s far from the truth.”

To borrow the title of a famous album by Galician band Siniestro Total: menos mal que nos queda Portugal (luckily, we still have Portugal).