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Sarah Jane Evans granted top Spanish honour

The award is a Spanish civil honour granted by the organisation to those deemed to have gone above and beyond the ordinary in promoting cooperation and international relations, in this case by championing Spanish wines in the UK and across the wine world.

Evans, an occasional Harpers contributor and contributing editor at Decanter, plus a former chair of the Institute of Masters of Wine, has long been recognised as the UK’s de facto Spain expert, with an unrivalled depth of knowledge about the wine and food culture in the country.

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José Pascual Marco, Spain’s ambassador to the UK & Northern Ireland, 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 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 honour, Evans commented: “It is an immense privilege to receive this decoration. I’m really touched, and even a little overwhelmed. I’d like to thank His Excellency 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.”

Evans, who began her career in book publishing, has written books on Spain, including Seville and The Wines of Northern Spain, and is currently penning The Wines of Central and Southern Spain.

• wine
• award
• Sarah Jane Evans MW
• Officer’s Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic
• services to Spain