Martine's Wines
Martine's Wines is a 1979-founded French wine importer and wholesaler serving licensed restaurants and retailers in California, New York, and Illinois through exclusive import rights to boutique French estates across Burgundy, the Rhône, Loire, and Savoie.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1979
- HeadquartersNovato, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Martine's Wines does
Martine's Wines is a privately held wine importer and wholesaler founded in 1979 and headquartered in Novato, California. The company represents over 484 French wine and spirits SKUs sourced from artisan producers across Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, Loire Valley, Savoie, Champagne, Beaujolais, and other French regions, and serves as exclusive U.S. importer for benchmark estates including Domaine des Ardoisières (Savoie), Domaine Santa Duc (Gigondas), Domaine Mayard (Châteauneuf-du-Pape), Henry Marionnet (Loire), and Gilles Robin (Crozes-Hermitage). In 2025 the company extended beyond French wines by adding Kalin Cellars, a California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producer, as a portfolio estate. Operations are conducted exclusively with licensed trade customers — restaurants, wine bars, and wine retailers — through a formal B2B account application process requiring state-specific licenses (California ABC, New York SLA, Illinois) and resale certificates.
The business model is a traditional three-tier licensed importing and wholesale distribution franchise. Revenue is generated by purchasing French and select Californian wine inventory from producer estates and reselling to on- and off-premise trade accounts at wholesale margins. Distribution is supported by two warehouse facilities — in Novato, California (285 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Suite Q) and New York City (119 W 23rd Street, Suite 903) — covering western and eastern U.S. markets, with a formal account-management channel for Illinois. Sales are run by dedicated account representatives with formal onboarding workflows.
Technology and go-to-market infrastructure are deliberately lean and trade-focused. The company operates a content platform called Sur Le Zinc, an in-house editorial blog featuring producer profiles, regional deep-dives, and vintage commentary, accompanied by YouTube producer interviews, Instagram and Facebook presence, and Mailchimp-driven email campaigns. B2B integrations include Provi (wine marketplace listing) and Melio Payments (online invoice payment). Customer-facing digital infrastructure is minimal: the website is the primary catalog and account-management surface, and there is no proprietary mobile application or API offering. The company is owner-operated, with Greg Castells as President and Jim Bradshaw as Director of Operations, and has no disclosed funding, parent-company ownership, or institutional backing.
Martine's Wines firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Martine's Wines
- Legal name
- Martine's Wines
- Website
- https://mwines.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1979
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Martine's Wines is a 1979-founded French wine importer and wholesaler serving licensed restaurants and retailers in California, New York, and Illinois through exclusive import rights to boutique French estates across Burgundy, the Rhône, Loire, and Savoie.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Martine's Wines industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Wine Wholesale Distribution
- NAICS
- Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (42482), Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (4248)
- SIC
- Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Alcohol Importers & Brand Owners (Wholesale) (CRAOAIAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Beer, Wine & Spirits Wholesale Distribution (CRAOAIAA)
Keywords
Where Martine's Wines is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Novato
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Martine's Wines business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Wine and Spirits Importing & Wholesale: Martine's Wines generates revenue through importing French wines and spirits from European producers and distributing them to licensed trade customers (restaurants, retailers) across the United States. The company has operated since 1979 as an importer and wholesaler.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Martine's Wines product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Martine's Wines imports and wholesales a curated portfolio of small-production French wines and spirits to licensed trade buyers (restaurants and retailers) across California, New York, and Illinois. The offering consists of bottled still and sparkling wines, and spirits sourced from independent French estates, sold through a direct B2B sales model supported by warehouse operations in CA and NY.
Product overview
Martine's Wines is an importer and wholesaler of French wines and spirits established in 1979, operating as a wine portfolio company with a portfolio of over 484 products across French wine regions including Burgundy, Rhône Valley, Savoie, Loire Valley, Champagne, and Beaujolais. The core offering consists of wine import and distribution services to retailers and restaurants in California, New York, Illinois, and other states, complemented by Sur Le Zinc, an editorial blog platform featuring producer profiles and wine culture content. The company represents numerous French wine estates including Domaine des Ardoisières, Domaine Santa Duc, Domaine Mayard, Henry Marionnet, Gilles Robin, and Kalin Cellars, among many others, with Martine's Wines serving as exclusive U.S. importer for these producers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Sur Le Zinc: A journal/blog section on the company's website featuring articles about wine regions, producers, and winemaking stories.
Companies that use Martine's Wines
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Martine's Wines technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Martine's Wines partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Domaine des ArdoisièrescoreMartine's Wines is the exclusive U.S. importer for Domaine des Ardoisières, a benchmark Savoie estate in the Vallée des Bauges of the French Alps founded in 1998 and led by winemaker Brice Omont since 2005. They hold shared rights in Massachusetts.
- Domaine Santa DuccoreMartine's Wines is the exclusive U.S. importer for Domaine Santa Duc, a reference-point estate in Gigondas owned by the Gras family for six generations. Under Yves Gras and now Benjamin Gras, the estate produces wines from Gigondas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and Rasteau.
- Domaine MayardcoreMartine's Wines is the exclusive U.S. importer for Domaine Mayard, a new estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape led by Arthur and Hugo Mayard (sixth generation). They represent the producer in all U.S. markets except Massachusetts.
- Henry MarionnetcoreMartine's Wines is the exclusive U.S. importer for Henry Marionnet, a historic Loire Valley estate dating to 1850 extending to nearly 60 hectares, with holdings including ungrafted vines some thought to date back to the mid-19th century.
- Gilles RobincoreMartine's Wines is the exclusive U.S. importer for Gilles Robin, a four-generation family estate in Crozes-Hermitage producing wines from 15 hectares including Hermitage and Saint-Joseph.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Martine's Wines competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Skurnik Wines & Spirits: U.S. importer and distributor founded in 1987 specializing in French and other European artisan wines with an exclusive estate portfolio model. Operates in many of the same wine regions (Burgundy, Rhône, Loire) and serves the same licensed on-premise and retail accounts as Martine's Wines, making it the closest direct peer.
- Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant: Berkeley, CA-based French wine importer founded in 1972, focused on small-production grower-producer estates across Burgundy, Rhône, Loire, and Provence. Comparable scale (~40+ employees), similar artisan positioning, similar exclusive-importer relationships with French producers, and overlapping California trade accounts.
- Polaner Selections: Mount Kisco, NY-based importer/distributor of French and other European wines, founded 1985, with multi-state East Coast coverage and a similar emphasis on estate-grown, terroir-driven producers. Competes head-to-head with Martine's in NY metro on Burgundy and Rhône portfolios.
- Rosenthal Wine Merchant: Importer of grower-producer Burgundy, Beaujolais, and Champagne based in NY with focus on small-production, often organic/biodynamic estates. Closely overlapping producer roster and similar commitment to exclusive U.S. representation agreements on niche French estates.
- Verity Wine Partners: Boutique importer/distributor of family-owned French and Italian estates, distributed broadly across U.S. through three-tier wholesale. Adjacent scale and overlapping trade customer base with Martine's, with similar emphasis on exclusive portfolio relationships.
- Becky Wasserman & Co. Long-standing Burgundy-focused U.S. importer headquartered in Sonoma County, CA. Highly comparable in curatorial model, exclusive-producer relationships (esp. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and other top Burgundy estates), and reliance on dedicated sales reps to on-premise accounts.
- Domaine Select Wine Estates: Importer/distributor of small-production French and other estate wines, with a curated portfolio of family-owned producers across regions including Rhône and Loire. Directly comparable model in terms of exclusive importer contracts and trade-account distribution.
- Vias Imports: NY-based importer of French and Italian wines operating an estate-by-estate model with multi-state distribution. Overlaps with Martine's in French portfolio positioning and licensed trade channels, including on-premise restaurant and retail accounts.
Broad incumbents
- Boisset Collection / Kobrand: Major U.S. wine and spirits importer/distributor with broad Burgundy, Rhône, and Champagne presence, including the Boisset estate portfolio. Larger portfolio and broader distribution give them incumbent reach, while Martine's competes on boutique scale, exclusivity, and editorial engagement.
- Maisons Marques & Domaines: Large specialty U.S. importer of French luxury Champagne, Burgundy, and Rhône houses. Provides a backdrop of incumbent competition that anchors category demand and competes for sommelier attention at top restaurant accounts.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Martine's Wines social profiles
Digital presenceMartine's Wines financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Martine's Wines leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Martine's Wines funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Martine's Wines M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Martine's Wines
What does Martine's Wines do?
Martine's Wines imports and wholesales a curated portfolio of small-production French wines and spirits to licensed trade buyers (restaurants and retailers) across California, New York, and Illinois. The offering consists of bottled still and sparkling wines, and spirits sourced from independent French estates, sold through a direct B2B sales model supported by warehouse operations in CA and NY.
Is Martine's Wines a public or private company?
Martine's Wines is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Martine's Wines founded?
Martine's Wines was founded in 1979. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Martine's Wines based?
Martine's Wines is headquartered in Novato, United States, in the North America region.
How does Martine's Wines make money?
One revenue line is on record: wine and Spirits Importing & Wholesale.
Who are Martine's Wines's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Skurnik Wines & Spirits, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Polaner Selections, Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Verity Wine Partners, Becky Wasserman & Co., Domaine Select Wine Estates and Vias Imports. Broad incumbents are Boisset Collection / Kobrand and Maisons Marques & Domaines.
Does Martine's Wines have an API?
No public API is recorded for Martine's Wines.
What industry is Martine's Wines in?
Martine's Wines's product category is Wine Wholesale Distribution. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAOAIAB, Alcohol Importers & Brand Owners (Wholesale), with a secondary code of CRAOAIAA, Beer, Wine & Spirits Wholesale Distribution. Its NAICS code is 42482 and its SIC code is 5180.