Sustentu Blog
Stories worth uncorking.
The Sustentu blog is our collection of stories from vineyards, winemakers, tables and travels around the world of wine.
A place to explore new regions, learn about remarkable bottles and discover the people and traditions that give meaning to every glass.
The Art of Pairing Wine and Food
June 15, 2026
Discover how the right pairing can elevate both the wine and the meal, creating experiences that are greater than the sum of their parts.
Why grape quality changes everything in Wine?
June 10, 2026
When people think about a great wine, they often imagine the winemaker, the barrel or the aging process. But every exceptional bottle starts much earlier: in the vineyard.
Iberia Does Not Need Discovery. It Needs Understanding.
July 20, 2026
Portugal and Spain aren’t waiting in the corner of the wine world to be ‘discovered’, they are global powerhouses waiting to be understood. In this opening piece, Rui Santil challenges market myths, explores 2025 production data, and reveals why the future of Iberian wine isn’t about selling volume, but about explaining its true identity and value.
By Rui Santil DipWSET
From Ships to Wine Lists
August 18, 2026
A modern wine list makes the past look suspiciously tidy. Sherry under fortified wines. Madeira near dessert. Port beside the cheese. Bordeaux, Riesling and Albariño in neat rows.
Nothing about how they reached us was tidy.
They crossed seas and rivers, survived piracy, lost markets to politics, endured eruptions and faced an insect that destroyed vineyards. Some became famous because they travelled well; others changed to travel better. Names were translated, styles adapted and reputations built abroad.
By Rui Santil DipWSET
The Vine Follows Power
July 20, 2026
How conquest, colonisation and war shaped the wine world
By Rui Santil DipWSET
The Annual Wine Review
Volume 01 · 2026
Sustentu
Journal
2026Vol. 01
- IberiaDoes Not Need Discovery. It Needs Understanding.
- HistoryThe Vine Follows Power
- RoutesFrom Ships to Wine Lists
- TasteWhat Makes a Wine Worth Drinking?
Sustentu Journal · 2026
Sustentu Journal
Stories worth uncorking.
Wine is never only what is in the glass. It is the road it travelled, the hands that planted it and the table where it finally arrives.
The Journal is where we slow down and read the map.
Volume 01
2026
Table of contents
Contents
The Annual Wine Review
Iberia Does Not Need Discovery. It Needs Understanding.
Iberia · Issue 01
IberiaDoes Not NeedDiscovery.
Rui Santil DipWSET
Iberia · Issue 01
It needsUnderstanding.
Rui Santil DipWSET
Iberia · Issue 01
Portugal and Spain do not need to be discovered.
Wine people love the word “discovery”. Every year, there is a new hidden gem, a new underrated region, a new emerging country that has usually been making wine for centuries.
Portugal is not new. Spain is not new. Iberia is not sitting quietly in the corner of the wine world waiting for someone to notice it.
Read the full story“Portugal and Spain are not under-discovered. They are under-explained.”
History · Issue 01
The VineFollowsPower
Rui Santil DipWSET
History · Issue 01
“Soil and climate help explain how a wine tastes. Power often explains why the vineyard is there at all.”
The Vine Follows Power
But none of them explains why the vine arrived there in the first place.
The modern wine map looks surprisingly tidy.
For thousands of years, vines have travelled with merchants, armies, missionaries, settlers and empires. They crossed seas, survived wars and changed nationality without moving.
Read the full storyBarrels, ledgers, maps.
Routes · Issue 01
From Shipsto Wine Lists
How voyages, rivalry, disaster and reinvention created the wines we drink today
Rui Santil DipWSET
Twelve centuries at sea
- 12th centuryAquitaine under the English Crown
- 1587Drake raids Cádiz
- 1703The Methuen Treaty
- 1773Woodhouse reaches Marsala
- 19th centuryThe wrong passenger comes aboard
- TodayBack to the wine list
“Britain’s affection for claret began on the water.”
How voyages, rivalry, disaster and reinvention created the wines we drink today
Ports helped decide which wines became famous long before appellations.
Jerez exported wine for centuries before Sherry became the style we recognise today. Its proximity to Seville and Cádiz placed it beside major routes towards the Americas.
Read the full storyTaste · Issue 01
What Makesa Wine WorthDrinking?
Rui Santil DipWSET
Three questions
- 01Is it well made?
- 02Do I enjoy it?
- 03Is it worth what I paid?
How to recognise quality beyond price, scores and personal taste
Taste · Issue 01
“Quality matters. So does pleasure.”
What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking?
How to recognise quality beyond price, scores and personal taste
Put two wines on a table. One costs three times as much as the other and comes with an impressive score. The second has no famous name, vineyard story or score on its label.
Everyone tastes both. The expensive wine gets a respectful nod. But when dinner arrives, people reach for the other bottle.
Read the full storySustentu Journal
Stories worth uncorking.
The Annual Wine ReviewVol. 01 · 2026
Sustentu Journal · 2026
Sustentu Journal
Stories worth uncorking.
Wine is never only what is in the glass. It is the road it travelled, the hands that planted it and the table where it finally arrives.
The Journal is where we slow down and read the map.
Volume 01
2026
Table of contents
Contents
The Annual Wine Review
Iberia Does Not Need Discovery. It Needs Understanding.
Iberia · Issue 01
IberiaDoes Not NeedDiscovery.
Rui Santil DipWSET
Iberia · Issue 01
It needsUnderstanding.
Rui Santil DipWSET
Iberia · Issue 01
Portugal and Spain do not need to be discovered.
Wine people love the word “discovery”. Every year, there is a new hidden gem, a new underrated region, a new emerging country that has usually been making wine for centuries.
Portugal is not new. Spain is not new. Iberia is not sitting quietly in the corner of the wine world waiting for someone to notice it.
Read the full story“Portugal and Spain are not under-discovered. They are under-explained.”
History · Issue 01
The VineFollowsPower
Rui Santil DipWSET
History · Issue 01
“Soil and climate help explain how a wine tastes. Power often explains why the vineyard is there at all.”
The Vine Follows Power
But none of them explains why the vine arrived there in the first place.
The modern wine map looks surprisingly tidy.
For thousands of years, vines have travelled with merchants, armies, missionaries, settlers and empires. They crossed seas, survived wars and changed nationality without moving.
Read the full storyBarrels, ledgers, maps.
Routes · Issue 01
From Shipsto Wine Lists
How voyages, rivalry, disaster and reinvention created the wines we drink today
Rui Santil DipWSET
Twelve centuries at sea
- 12th centuryAquitaine under the English Crown
- 1587Drake raids Cádiz
- 1703The Methuen Treaty
- 1773Woodhouse reaches Marsala
- 19th centuryThe wrong passenger comes aboard
- TodayBack to the wine list
“Britain’s affection for claret began on the water.”
How voyages, rivalry, disaster and reinvention created the wines we drink today
Ports helped decide which wines became famous long before appellations.
Jerez exported wine for centuries before Sherry became the style we recognise today. Its proximity to Seville and Cádiz placed it beside major routes towards the Americas.
Read the full storyTaste · Issue 01
What Makesa Wine WorthDrinking?
Rui Santil DipWSET
Three questions
- 01Is it well made?
- 02Do I enjoy it?
- 03Is it worth what I paid?
How to recognise quality beyond price, scores and personal taste
Taste · Issue 01
“Quality matters. So does pleasure.”
What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking?
How to recognise quality beyond price, scores and personal taste
Put two wines on a table. One costs three times as much as the other and comes with an impressive score. The second has no famous name, vineyard story or score on its label.
Everyone tastes both. The expensive wine gets a respectful nod. But when dinner arrives, people reach for the other bottle.
Read the full storyVolume 01 · 2026
In this issue
- 01IberiaIberia Does Not Need Discovery. It Needs Understanding.p. 05
- 02HistoryThe Vine Follows Powerp. 09
- 03RoutesFrom Ships to Wine Listsp. 13
- 04TasteWhat Makes a Wine Worth Drinking?p. 17
Every volume
The Archive
One edition each year. Open a volume to read it as a magazine.