Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino honours three industry heavyweights
The 40th anniversary of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino saw three new members added to the historic group in honour of their promotion of wines from Spain in the UK trade.
The honourees included Hugo Campbell, director of importer Ehrmanns (pictured, left), Ben Henshaw, founder and director of importer Indigo Wines (pictured, right) and César Saldaña, President of sherry’s Consejo Regulador (pictured, centre).
The “Knights of the Great Order of Wine” were honoured at the organisation’s 40th Annual Investiture Dinner at the Landmark London Hotel last week in front of over 250 guests.
Campbell has worked on all Ehrmann’s major Spanish winemaking projects for their customer own labels, while Henshaw has guided Indigo in becoming one of the most vital importers of Spanish wine in the UK, with the company having won the International Wine Challenge Spain Specialist Importer award 12 times since 2009.
Saldaña has been sherry’s Consejo president since 2020, having spent most of his career in the sherry business including senior roles at González Byass.
One of the speakers at the event was Spanish Ambassador in London, His Excellency José Pascual Marco. The diplomat acknowledged the difficulties faced by Spanish wine producers due to the changing climate, most notably exemplified by last Autumn’s catastrophic floods in Valencia and elsewhere in the country.
Despite these serious challenges, he described to the audience how “Spanish producers are adaptable and resourceful” in face of headwinds, also noting Spanish wine’s sustainability progress.
Pablo Conde, director general for international business development, ICEX and acting chancellor for The Gran Orden, shared in the Ambassador’s praise of the sector noting the country’s €3 billion-a-year wine exports rose last year, with the UK was Spanish wine’s largest market. The UK’s appetite for Spanish wine would not have been cultivated in Conde’s view “without the hard work of passionate and talented individuals”, including those honoured as new Caballeros.
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