Manuel Moraga Ruiz is a Spanish radio personality and journalist. He hosts and directs the programme Degustar España, which airs every Saturday on Radio 5 Todo Noticias, a news channel operated by Radio Nacional de España. He’s also the host and director of Un País de Vino on Radio Exterior de España, an international channel also operated by Radio Nacional.
How did you get here?
During and just after completing my Master’s in communication, I started working on a health and lifestyle programme at Radio Nacional de España [Spain’s national state-owned public service radio broadcaster] and developed a particular interest in food and travel. Food led me closer to wine, but I didn’t see it as a separate ‘world’ in itself – it was always simply part of my life growing up in Castilla-La Mancha. On Fridays, I would take my bike to fill up our bottles of wine for the week. And I supported my studies by working harvest each year. In 2013, I was invited to create a wine segment for Radio Nacional’s Degustar España (‘Taste Spain’). Five years later, I became the programme host and director, and kept running its wine section, but I felt I needed formal training, and started my WSET studies – which was when I discovered the ‘world of wine’ and realised I was, in fact, more passionate about it than I imagined. This led me to pitch the idea for a programme solely dedicated to wine culture, which became Un País de
