Bill, you have to take into account that wine is considered "food" here, and that is reflected on its taxes. It´s part of our culture, as you may know. And therefore we don´t like to overcharge it. When in a restaurant, I tend to choose the house wine, that for around 14-18 euros is an unbeatable, excellent choice (I´m talking about standard restaurant, where you can have a great meal for around 40 to 50 euros per person...including wine)

mikelg, we had a meal like on our last night in Valencia, and the wine was a mere €17 out of a total bill of €80 ish. The restaurant had a novel way of organising its wine-list - all their wines were displayed in a huge cabinet with tasting notes and prices displayed around their necks; the diner could either peruse them him/herself, or ask the waiter to recommend a bottle depending on their taste and what they were eating. Very few of them were more than €30 and most were under €20, but everyone appeared to be extremely happy with their choices.

Seen that where I live, as something new...I think it´s a great idea. The good thing about Spain is that wine is a cultural thing and so we are much used to drinking it on a daily basis. Most wine bottles I buy at wine stores are around 6 to 9 eur, and I´m talking really nice wines

mikelg - i try to buy in that price-bracket too [read £ for €] but it's getting increasingly hard to get something I really want to drink, unless I wait for a special supermarket sale or wine-merchant offer.

Not sure if that's because my pallet is improving or wine is becoming more expensive in the UK.

possibly a bit of both.