Image: H.E. Sarah Jane Evans MW and H.E. Mr José Pascual Marco, The Ambassador of Spain to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland

We are delighted to announce that Sarah Jane Evans MW, leading international wine writer, Spanish wine specialist and Chairman of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino, was decorated with the Officer’s Cross of The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic at a dinner at the Spanish Ambassador’s Residence in London this week.

The decoration is granted by the King of Spain and the Grand Chancellor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Order was created in 1815 by King Ferdinand VII in honour of Queen Isabel I and is open to both Spaniards and foreigners with the intent of, “rewarding the firm allegiance to Spain and the merits of Spanish citizens and foreigners in good standing with the Nation.”

Commenting on granting the decoration to Sarah Jane Evans, The Ambassador of Spain to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, H.E. Mr. José Pascual Marco, said, “It is a pleasure to bestow the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica to Sarah Jane Evans. Her long-standing and contagious love for Spain and Spanish wines, which dates back to her time as a student at the University of Cambridge, has led her to chair the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino, an organisation that has greatly helped raise the knowledge of the diversity and high quality of Spanish wines in the UK market”.

On receiving the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, Sarah Jane Evans MW said, “It is an immense privilege to receive this decoration. I’m really touched, and even a little overwhelmed. I’d like to thank H.E. The Ambassador of Spain to the UK & Ireland Mr. José Pascual Marco for bestowing this honour on me. Additionally, my heartfelt thanks also to all those who have helped me in my career in Spain and the UK.”

As well as her role as Chairman of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino, Sarah Jane Evans MW is also Co-Chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards, Contributing Editor at Decanter magazine as well as a Dama de Albariño and Dama de Solear.   Evans is a former Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine, where she was a winner of the Robert Mondavi Winery Award and won the Outstanding Alumni Award at the WSET.