GRAN ORDEN DE CABALLEROS DEL VINO 40TH INVESTITURE DINNER 2025

where

The Landmark London Hotel

London

United Kingdom

when

Jun 12 2025 18:30 - 22:30 h

What’s On

The 40th Annual Investiture Dinner of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino formally welcomed this year’s new Caballeros at the Landmark London Hotel on 12th June. The new Caballeros announced at the event were Hugo Campbell, director of importer Ehrmann’s; Ben Henshaw, founder and director of importer Indigo Wines; and César Saldaña, President of Sherry’s Consejo Regulador.

Organised by Foods and Wines from Spain, this year’s dinner celebrated forty years of commitment to raising the profile and increasing the market share of Spanish wines in the UK. Since its creation by Wines from Spain in 1984, the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino has celebrated each individual member’s dedication to Spain’s wines. Shinning a spotlight on those within the wine trade leading the way, the organisation plays a key role in how Spanish wines continue to find favour with British drinkers, providing a curated selection of broadcasters, educators, importers, journalists retailers, restaurateurs, winemakers and winery owners, whose contributions have been pivotal.

Focused on the continuing work of the organisation and its members to celebrate the excellence of wines of Spain, the event brought together over 250 key members of the trade from both the UK and Spain (producers, exporters, importers, buyers and journalists). Spanish ambassador H.E. José Pascual Marco Martínez was in attendance, alongside the Gran Orden’s Acting Chancellor, Mr Pablo Conde (Director General for International Business Development, ICEX) and Chairman, Ms. Sarah Jane Evans MW.

Guests enjoyed a bespoke Spanish menu, developed by Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino members José Pizarro and Owen Morgan, to pair perfectly with the wines selected for the occasion by Gran Orden members. The menu, skilfully prepared under the guidance of executive chef at The Landmark London, Gray Klaner, was the perfect accompaniment to the Spanish wines and highlighted the excellence and versatility of Spain’s foods and wines.

Presenting the three new Caballeros de la Gran Orden del Vino:

Hugo Campbell
Director of importer Ehrmann’s

Hugo Campbell is a UK wine trade veteran after many years working with importer Ehrmanns. There he began working with Spanish partners including Muga, Felix Solis, Viñas del Vero, Sanchez Romate, Williams & Humbert, and Juve y Camps. In the early 1990’s, he helped coordinate winemaking projects in more than 15 countries, including a number in South America. He also worked on all Ehrmanns major Spanish winemaking projects for their customer own labels. Despite having been a director since 2009, he still sources and sells Spanish wine.

Ben Henshaw
Founder and director of Indigo Wines

Ben Henshaw is founder and director of Indigo Wines, one the UK’s most important Spanish importers. From the start, his focus was the country’s emerging artisanal wine scene. By 2009, Indigo had developed such a strong range that it won the International Wine Challenge Spain Specialist Importer award. It has claimed 12 times since. Indigo Wines is a key Spanish specialist showcasing the diversity and quality of modern Spanish wine in the UK.

César Saldaña
President of Sherry’s Consejo Regulador

César Saldaña is President of the Consejo Regulador of the Denominations of Origin "Jerez-Xérès-Sherry" and "Manzanilla - Sanlúcar de Barrameda", the body representing those products and their producers. He has spent most of his career in the sherry business, in senior posts at Gonzalez Byass and Sandeman, and from 2000 as the Consejo’s Director General. Since 2010 he has also been Director General of the Brandy de Jerez Consejo. He became the sherry Consejo’s President in 2020. He is the author of a number of publications, most notably El Libro de los Vinos de Jerez.

For more information about the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino or this year’s Investiture Dinner, please contact the UK office of Foods & Wines from Spain: spainfoodwineuk@comercio.mineco.es