Where should I go?

Or Portugal??

One can find good wine and food in every country in Europe, so the choice depends upon your other interests. What time of year, for how long and what do you want to do besides eat and drink?

Not enough info. Have you been before? If so, where/when, and what did you like/dislike? What's "soon"? What time of year are you planning to go? As mentioned previously, "good food and good wine" can be had in many places - and you don't need to cross an ocean for that. What else are your interests? Your preferred travel style? Going alone or with someone? Have any particular travel dreams/fantasies? How's your budget? Some countries are harder to work into some budgets.... You get the ideal. More info will yield more meaningful answers. Hope that helps.

Ashley, All of the countries you mentioned have good food and wine, so the more important question might be which type of food do you enjoy the most? I tend to be partial to Italian food and wines, so the choice would be clear for me. The other question is have you ever travelled in any of those countries previously? The reason I ask, is that I'd probably favour a country that I hadn't been to before. Good luck with your decision!

Does it have to be Europe? While you can come across decent deals if you plan ahead, airfare from Seattle to Europe (especially peak season and often in shoulder season) can be kind of pricey. How about visiting a place like New Zealand or Australia? They have good food (especially in the larger cities and small towns along the coast) and an abundance of wineries. Their seasons are opposite ours, so if by "soon" you mean you want to take a trip sometime between December and the end of April, it would be either summer or early Autumn in that part of the world. There is no language barrier. The currency exchange rate for Australia is on par with the U.S. dollar right now, and in New Zealand you'd actually achieve a savings ($1 USD is equal to approx $1.33 NZD) which help your budget go further for food, wine and lodging. The cities are cosmopolitan and if you like to shop, go to museums, or enjoy the nightlife, there is plenty to do. But if you want to get outdoors there is some stunning scenery not far from the major cities - beaches, glaciers, mountains, lakes - which rivals Europe. Even if you don't want to rent a car, you can still get around pretty easily using buses, cheap short haul flights or trains. If your heart is set on Europe, I'd suggest you watch a few travel DVDs on Spain, France & Italy (ex. Rick Steves TV shows, Globe Trekker, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, Samantha Brown, etc) which you can usually watch online at sites like Hulu or YouTube, or borrow them from the library. See what else peaks your interest besides the food & wine and determine what time of year you want to go and how the weather may affect your trip. That may help you decide where to go.

My thought is that you are taking the trip, not me. Its your reasons that make sense not my suggestions. Give us something to get our teeth into and we can help. Have you tried reading other threads here and seeing what others are doing?

Depends on how much time you have to spend. We do France and Italy, both have great but different foods and wonderful local wines.

We loved Portugal. Great food, great wine, nice people, not too expensive.