Martine's Wines

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.

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

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

• Wine import distribution
• Specialty wine wholesaler
• French wine importer
• Fine wine portfolio
• Trade wine distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Novato

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. 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

Core 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.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Domaine des ArdoisièrescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMartine'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 DuccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMartine'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 MayardcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMartine'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 MarionnetcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMartine'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 RobincoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMartine'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

Direct 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

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UChEcFyAP27N5vRH_fCH0S-A
• Facebookfacebook.com/martineswines
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1494508
• Instagraminstagram.com/martineswines

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Martine's Wines