Baja Natural Wines Meet Maine Seafood Tacos
Arts District · Portland · Seafood, Californian, Contemporary Mexican · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 23, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The list at Regards hits you like the room itself — sun-bleached, a little unexpected, and clearly assembled by someone who has opinions. Forty to seventy bottles doesn't sound like much, but this isn't a menu padded with Kendall-Jackson and a token Malbec. Someone here took a flight to Baja and came back with homework.
The regional focus tells the whole story: Pacific Coast California and Oregon anchor things, but the real intrigue comes from Baja California natural wines and a Basque Country thread that runs through Txakoli and Galician Albariño. Loire Valley and Grüner Veltliner show up to keep the acid-heads happy, and there's enough orange wine representation to signal that this isn't accidental. Gaps exist — don't come looking for a deep red Burgundy rabbit hole or a serious Barolo — but for a restaurant built around masa, crab, and prawns, the list is practically purpose-built. It's a focused, food-first selection that punches well above its bottle count.
Ten to eighteen glass pours is a generous window for a list this size, and the variety skews toward the kind of bright, saline, high-acid whites that make seafood taste like it was just pulled from the water. Rotating through options like Txakoli and Albariño by the glass keeps things lively. If you're splitting a bottle or just want a pour to test the waters, you're in good hands here.
Txakoli — $35
Txakoli at the lower end of their bottle range is a straight steal for a wine this food-friendly. Effervescent, bracingly tart, and basically designed to be poured tableside over a plate of prawns — it's the kind of bottle that makes a $35 price tag feel like someone forgot a digit.
Baja California Natural Wine
Most diners at Regards are going to default to California or Oregon, which means the Baja natural wines sit quietly underordered. That's a mistake. Baja's natural wine scene is producing genuinely exciting, low-intervention work that fits the restaurant's Californian-Mexican DNA perfectly — and in Portland, Maine, you're not finding this on many other lists.
Grüner Veltliner
Nothing wrong with Grüner on principle, but when the rest of the list is doing such specific, thematic work around coastal and Pacific Rim flavors, the Austrian entry feels like a stray puzzle piece. It's probably fine, but there are more interesting choices available for the same spend.
Albariño + Crab Rice
Galician Albariño with the crab rice is the most obvious correct answer in the room. The wine's briny minerality and citrus edge mirror the sweetness of the crab without drowning it, and the textural richness of the rice gives the wine something to push against. Order both, don't think too hard about it.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Regards isn't trying to be a wine bar, but whoever built this list understands exactly what the food needs and went hunting for it. If you're in Portland and want a bottle that actually earns its place on the table, this is the move.
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Small but Thoughtful
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Basic Stemmed
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Small but Thoughtful
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Basic Stemmed
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Acceptable
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Varietal Specific
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Solid Range
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Basic Stemmed
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Acceptable
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Small but Thoughtful
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Basic Stemmed
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Acceptable
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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