GRAN ORDEN DE CABALLEROS DEL VINO DINNER 2022

What's on

This autumn marks the return of one of the most exciting events in the calendar for Spanish wines in the UK, as the newest members of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino are announced and celebrated at a ceremony at The Savoy in central London on 18 October.

Created by Wines from Spain in 1985, Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino, or GOCV aims to shine a light on members of the wine trade leading the way in the UK market, and has become an integral part of the fabric of the Spanish wine scene in the UK. 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.

Organised by Foods and Wines from Spain and Alimentos de España, this year’s Dinner celebrates the three new additions to the Gran Orden, and the continuing work of the organisation and its members in promoting Spanish wines in the UK.  The event brings together key members of the trade from both the UK and Spain (producers, exporters, importers, buyers and journalists), and guests will enjoy a curated selection of spectacular wines from Spanish producers, chosen for the dinner and matched to a bespoke menu.  Spanish ambassador H.E. José Pascual Marco Martínez will be in attendance, alongside the Gran Orden’s Chancellor, Ms. Elisa Carbonell (Director General, ICEX) and Chairman, Ms. Sarah Jane Evans MW.  

The new Caballeros were announced as Basque-born chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho; Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, general manager of winery Marqués de Murrieta; and Catriona Felstead MW, senior wine buyer for fine wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd and are recognised for their commitment to producing and showcasing Spanish wines in the UK.

Nieves Barragán Mohacho

A highly influential and much-loved chef and restaurateur, Nieves has been flying the flag for Spanish food and wine in London and the UK for more than two decades. Having grown up in Bilbao in Spain’s Basque region, she became passionate from an early age about the region’s produce and cuisine and in the late 1990s came to London to work at restaurants including Simply Nico and the Spanish restaurants Fino and Barrafina. During her ten years as executive chef for both Fino and Barrafina, she oversaw the opening of two further Barrafina restaurants and gained a Michelin star for the original site on Frith Street. She left in 2018 to open Sabor in Mayfair with business partner José Etura. The restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star eight months after opening and remains among the very best restaurants in the country for those looking to discover authentic takes on Spanish food, and a personally selected list featuring some of the best wines to be found in Spain.

Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga

One of four children born in Tarragona, Catalonia, to Vicente Cebrián Sagarriga and María Jesús Suárez-Llanos, Counts of Creixell, Vicente spent much of his childhood in a family property in Pazo de Barrantes, where his love for wine and the countryside of Spain began in earnest. After studying in Madrid at the British Council School with degrees in Economics, Business Studies and Law at the University of Navarra, he began a career in the wine industry. In 1989, he had started work as head of exports for acclaimed winemaker Marqués de Murrieta, and in the 1990s, he took over management of the family winery with the aim of revolutionising the business and the winery site. Throughout his career leading Marqués de Murrieta, both he and the business have won a huge number of awards and accolades, including the Cross of the "Order of May 2" of the Community of Madrid, the Conde Nast Award for Best Entrepreneur of the Year, the Gentleman Award, Best Winery of the Year 2015, and the prize for the best wine in the world for Castillo Ygay 2010 awarded by the prestigious publication Wine Spectator in 2020.

Catriona Felstead MW

Catriona Felstead MW is senior wine buyer at fine wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd with many years’ experience working with exciting winemakers in Spain and a passion for Spanish wine that goes back to her youth. She discovered the world of wine a few years after graduating from university with a degree in Spanish and French and joined Berry Bros. in 2007 after having worked for Oddbins. She then won the WSET Vintners' Cup and Vintners' Scholarship and passed the Master of Wine exam in 2012, becoming the company’s first female MW. She was appointed as a buyer at Berry Bros. & Rudd in 2013, before being promoted to senior buyer and working across regions including Spain and South Africa. In her personal and professional lives, she has always shown an affinity for Spanish wines – something that has been augmented by taking responsibility for the region from the brand’s previous buyer and member of the Gran Orden Simon Field MW, in 2017.

The Investiture Dinner was the perfect chance to celebrate all three new Caballeros, whose work promoting Spanish wines to UK wine drinkers has long been worthy of recognition by their peers and contemporaries, and the work of all three will in turn help to provide inspiration to those who follow in their footsteps.

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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

Twitter: @SpainFoodWineUK