March 5, 2025 • 31 mins
The Martinez family planted a small vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon in 1981 on the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (HHH’s) and are now a small family owned and operated vineyard and winery. They take pride in the family’s Latino heritage as the vineyard owner, Sergio Martinez; is from Mexico while his wife Kristy is 3rd generation Prosser resident. Their son Drew Martinez is the winemaker and his wife Monica the General Manager. Customers will find numerous artworks inside the winery representing the Latino heritage including Dia de Los Muertos art.The winery, established in 2005; produces their estate, old vine Dominio de Martinez Cabernet Sauvignon and May Mae Rosé. They also produce other award-winning reds like Carménère primarily from the HHH’s AVA and whites like Albariño from The Yakima Valley AVA. The family celebrates their Mexican heritage through experiences from the vineyard to the glass.Daily offerings include wine tasting flights and appetizers with expanded food options Friday-Sunday. Guests can purchase by the glass or bottle or venture out and try one of the wineries famous wine slushies. Either the original Rosé Rita or the new Mango Rita with Chamoy and Tajin.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with
which producers narrate their winery and their world. Team thirty
answers discover their stories, personalities, and passions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alson
Levine and I'm joined today by Drew Martinez of Martinez
and Martinez in the Yakima Valley in Washington State. Drew,
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack and tell us a little bit
about Martinez and Martinez.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
So my name is Drew Martinez. We're located in Prosper, Washington.
It's Martinez and Martinez Winery owned by myself, my wife Monica,
my dad Sergio, and my mom Christy. And we started
making wine in two thousand and five and we've.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Been in the same location now the whole time, in
this building.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And so you started making wine in two thousand and five,
but you have a longer history in this area.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Right right.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So we initially started out as a grape grower. My parents,
Sergio and Christi, planted a small three acre vineyard in
the Horse Heaven Hills in nineteen eighty one, now forty
two year old vineyard. It's the oldest in the top
oldest three in the Horse Heaven Hills, and so that
(01:14):
was the initial entry into the wine industry, learning about
grapes my whole life. I grew up in the vineyard
just a year or two younger than me and did
all aspects of growing.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Helping out. But my dad is the soul tender to
the vineyard and.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
He manages other vineyards around the valley.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
He also helps in vineyard production at alder Ridge Vineyard,
and he's been with them since they started planting the
grapes in nineteen ninety six. And it was from nineteen
ninety six until today they planted about fifteen hundred acres,
starting out with about eight hundred I think, but then
increasing over the last I mean, I can't I don't
(01:58):
know how many years it was.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So so you convinced him to start making wine, and
what what what was sort of the impetus to start
making wine.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So where my parents planted their vineyard, we're actually on
the same small micro climate within the Horse seven Hills
where the first or the top five point Cabernet sauvignons
have come from. And so this area is known in
the industry. You know, it's just known to have great grapes.
(02:29):
My parents they saw foresight. I guess in the eighties
nobody else was planting grapes. It was all cherries and apples.
There was one vineyard owner at Mercer Ranch Vineyard, that's
Don and Linda Mercer and Don was he had been
planting grapes. He's the first vineyard in Horse seven Hills
and he had a uh, he had a nursery and
(02:50):
he asked my dad, hey, Sergio, you want to I
want to grow some grapes. And my dad, my dad
actually came from Mutual com Mexico. He was raised in Modesto,
which is Gallo country, so they As a kid, he
worked in the vineyards and that's where he you know,
he had known about it, so he came up with
knowledge about grape growing here in Washington.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
It wasn't a mainstream thing, but he had that knowledge.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So I think that's how they kind of came together.
And he asked my dad, hey, you want to make
some wine. And for that same reason, my dad having
the background in viticulture as a young kid, that's how
he ended up with the job at the adulta ridge
with helping plant and raise the grapes there.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So you said you have three acres planted, that's a
state fruit, and then you're purchasing fruit from other places.
Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So we purchased from we have the three acres, it's
cabernet savignon only, that's the nineteen eighty one planting. Then
we source Carmenier Petite Verdeaux, some more cab zinfandel and
pretty much those from all the ridge, and then we
(04:01):
get whites from the Akama Valley from Tudor Hill's vineyard,
which is actually my wife's family, and she.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Was raised in grapes as well.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Her grandpa was one of the first wine makers and
actually maybe the first winemaker, Im Prosser, one of them anyways,
but he passed away unfortunately at a young age, and
their legacy didn't continue on. They wanted to tree fruit
and stuff, but later on came back to grapes and
they're growing grapes again. So we purchased Aubregno Roussin, Bonnier,
(04:34):
Pino Gres white wines from there in Chartnight.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Since I started with that, I taste a little of that.
And what's your total case production?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
We're no more than two thousand cases a.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Year, and are you fully direct to consumer or do
you have any distribution In the US.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
We're probably ninety five to ninety eight percent direct to
consumer and with just small local distribution.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Okay, So about you, Drew. I know that you said
that you grew up here, your dad has been a
grape grower your entire life. What is your first memory
relevant to wine and how old were you at what
point do you just kind of remember or was it
just always part of your life and you don't really
remember its standing out to you it as wine is
(05:20):
a thing.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I think grapes were like the first, you know, and
and just working doing weeding and helping with the things
where I couldn't reach the chord on with doing that
kind of stuff, and then slowly growing and doing suckering,
and then moving up into the court on as later
in life, those those types of things.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
How old were you when they put you in the
vineyard there?
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I was. I was young.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
The weeds were my first memory. Later on, later on
the grapes came, and then and then correlating it to wine,
it was it was pretty young because we tasted wine
as youngsters and so and then tasting grapes. I mean really,
that's that's where I see the vision of the wine,
(06:07):
just in the taste of the grape.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So, when you started actually drinking wine tasting wine, is
there a particular wine that stands out as sort of
an AHA wine for you? And not only what was
that wine, but what was it about it that was
so aha?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
I think.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
The AHA wine. I mean I just was with somebody
who was telling me his AHA wine, and I was like, Wow,
you got it from that? For me?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I didn't, I didn't. I guess I almost didn't have
an AHA wine.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
But I think my AHA was like Wow, this is
something that we've been doing for thirty years already, and
or twenty five at the time when they started getting
these hundred point wines out of out of my neighbor's
vineyards and stuff, and and so I was like, Aha,
this is what all the hard work has been for
(07:03):
to try to do something like that.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So you're working with a lot of you know, classic
red varieties, Bordeaux varieties, and some Rowan varieties. If we
came to your home, what would we find in there?
What do you what do you and Monica like to drink?
What do you sort of have in there. Is it
all wines you've made? Is it from particular producers or
any other regions or grapes that you like to explore
and that you have at home.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
I enjoy the Horse Heaven Hills. It's near and dear
to my heart.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
There is a you know, distinct flavored profile that I
guess I must have house palette with.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
But so those types.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
A lot of different wines from there, and then all
across Washington State you'll see very few of our own wines,
mostly other peoples. And whenever we go, we you know,
taste wine, purchase and have it around the house, not
only so that we have it to drink, but to
share when people come, because we like to promote other
(07:59):
people's stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
One of the you know, so when we were younger.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Monica and I have been together since our senior year
in high school, and so through the years, she started
drinking wine before myself.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
And I think one of her possible AHAs was actually.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
My neighbor here at Thurston Wolf Winery, and I think
it was like it was a red red wine and
it was kind of like, you know, she really enjoyed it.
I can't remember if it was like a mile Becker something,
but it was it was a red briding and it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Kind of pushed her. So is there anything you opened
up recently that drank really well?
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Of our owner of what did you.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Drink recently that drank really well? Was it your own
or someone else's?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
For the older older stuff, we.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Did a Petite for Dove vertical with from twenty ten
to twenty twenty one, and there was some fantastic vintages
all the way through, but some really stellars like twenty sixteen,
twenty twenty twelve, and you know, there was a couple
(09:13):
others that were just like from your own, from your own,
from our own actually.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, so something you can look back and see what
you've done.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yes, And we hadn't done it until this last year,
like a full vertical before of our own wine. We've
done verticals with other like cabs, but one was ours,
one was somebody else's so on, but never like our
whole vertical.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
So you work with a number of different grapes. Do
you think there's a such thing as a perfect variety?
Speaker 5 (09:40):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I'd say, you know that cab is pretty pretty perfect
in ways, especially from Horse Hills. Yeah, Horse Heaven Hills.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Of course, now you were talking about these one hundred
point wines that come out of course Heaven Hills.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
What is it?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
What is you know? It opened up your eyes. You said,
that was kind of an aha moment for you to
see that all the hard work gets paid off in
these scores. So to you, what is your opinion on
wine critics and scores? What is what is the value
the challenge or the benefit to you and of getting
a score or looking at what a wine critic offers.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
It's it's tough, especially being a small micro winery.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Uh, there's always room for the for bigger, larger wineries
to have the array of grapes and and all that stuff,
and it seems like they get the they get the
most benefit out of it.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
For us, you know, really, we're only we're here to
make wine that our family likes.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And uh and then if if we like it, we
we have some following that enjoys it as well. And
so critics, you know, I'm I'm kind of over them.
But it's always nice to get a great right.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Now, of course, of course, I mean, I mean, who
wouldn't want it? So I'm curious for you as a
wine drinker, red, white or rose.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Bread. I'd say red still are.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Sparkling still, see, I like I have to pause and
think just a little bit about that. So maybe you're
just like it all.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
You know, we just enjoyed some of your wines while
we were eating lunch before we sat down to talk here,
and obviously just had fun kind of tasting wine and eating.
But on a on a more you know, planned out
dinner or meal, how do you approach food and wine pairing?
Do you follow rules? Do you think that it's red
wine and steak, you know, meat, and you know it's
(11:44):
white wine and fish, or are there other guidelines that
you look for that's going to help you decide what
wine to order with a meal or vice versa. I
don't know what you pick first, the wine or the food.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, yeah, I think it probably is the food, and
then the wine comes kind of with it. And and yeah,
I think we do kind of stick to the the
lighter wines with the lighter kind of dishes, and then
the heavier with the heavy.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Stuff, and so it's more on texture and weight than
it is specifically white or red.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Yeah, yeah, kind of kind of that.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
And then we're also uh in a little difference where
I'm looking at like white wines with with white wines
with the camaron is that I would camarona is in Awa,
Chile and stuff like that, really light dishes where the
fishes cooked in the acidity, stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
And then for our reds, I'm.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Looking at carmoner with like the cot or or aas
or cottnitas and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
You're making me hungry. Make me hungry. So for somebody
who hasn't had the pleasure to taste Martinez and Martinez
wines yet, what do you think they're missing out on?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
H there, I think they're probably missing out on a
on a small view of of what wines should be.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
And our.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Starting out, we started with like fifty cases and people
just really.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Took to us and enjoyed the wines.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
So I feel like there is benefit to try and
smaller wines and hopefully we don't displease anybody.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And also we should note that you were saying that
you were the first Hispanic second Hispanic owned winery in
Washington State.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yeah, I think about there.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I don't want to say it too like that's set
in stone, but at the time we came in in
two thousand and five. There was one other Latuna wine
maker and we came in, and we had been the
only ones for quite a while. But now we're seeing
a little bit more. And I'm very ecstatic because I
feel like the Mexican I don't say just Mexican, because
(13:57):
now it's pseudomatic cardinals.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Everything there's there's a little so.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
I generalized with Latino and UH and basically we're our
communities are the ones doing the actual work in the field,
and so to get to that next level where you're
making your own wine any of those things is awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So absolutely so, if space aliens were to land here
at your property, at your tasting room, you know, park
their spaceship in the first spot out here, and knock
on the door, which of your wines would you want
to say, Welcome to Martinez and Martinez.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
I'd have to say our Rose. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Interestingly enough, the Rose just came about Uh in Uh
in the time crunch. In the crunch where we needed
a light colored wine. We had no no white grapes
at the time, and we decided to take this Cabernet
sauvignon that everybody told us. We were nuts for making
it into rose, and we made that rose and it's
(14:59):
been one of our top selling wines.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
People love it.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Clean, crisp, light, acidic, a little hint the sweetness, and
it's great for all summer long.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Well perfect and you know it's really pretty to look
at too. So you know, welcome to Martinez and Martinez.
So you grew up in the vines, and you know,
I know that you're not managing the vines. That's your
dad's job. And the Martinez and Martinez you have your
job to make the wine. He has his job to
grow the grapes. But I know you spend time out
(15:30):
there and have spent time out there and growing up
in an area like this. Every vintage tells a different
story in your experience. What do you see? Is there
a pattern, is there a sort of commonality, or is
there a lot of variation from year to year.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
It's a decent amount of variation, more than we'd think,
even though we go through the years and it seems like, oh, yeah,
it's hot this summer. You don't you take that into consideration.
But the spring may have been cooler, it may have
been warmer, it may have been and just wet, it
may have been dry. So there's all these factors. Each
year is just seems to be totally different to me.
(16:08):
But that's that's the way I feel.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And are there sort of any signs or predictors that
you look for when you're out in the vineyard that
are going to tell you what you're going to get
for the year, what kind of a harvest it's going
to be, or what kind of a vintage.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Uh, just how fruit's ripening when rasion happens, both in
whites or reds. I've looked towards reds and more when
very when that is happening. How how how the cluster
settings look after in the spring, you know, when when
(16:42):
things start to develop and in those types.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
So when you're walking out in the vineyard, because I'm
sure you spend time out there, and you have spent
lots of time visiting your old friends the weeds. When
you're out there, do you talk to the vines? Have
you talked to the vines? I mean, if they were
your first friends, I'm sure you did. But do you
still talk to the vines?
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Yeah? Tell them, tell him what callouses they've got me?
And yeah, we Uh, my dad is he's very romantified
in the vineyard.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
He's very in tune with with that and uh and for.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Me growing up, it was it was a lot of
work with but it's not.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
A little more cursing at the vines.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
There's a little more of that, but at the same time,
I definitely am seeing more of what he sees and
and it's uh, it's a super rigorously tough job in
the vineyard.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Wineery.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
You know it can be also, but vineyard is definitely
next level stuff for that. So uh just uh yeah,
keeping keeping thanks in there to continue producing and and
uh and we'll try not to give us too hard
up a time.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, so you keep them at bay. So once they
come in here and you make the wine, do you
have a little more tendency to talk to it?
Speaker 5 (18:04):
Then?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Do you have to encourage it or ever reprimand it?
Do you play music to your wine or do you
not believe in any of that stuff?
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Definitely serenade it with wine with music, with music you
personally sing, no, but I'll dance for it like crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, you give performances, I see, Okay, that's right. So
having grown up in this, is this something you always
knew you wanted to do or when you were a
little boy, what did you want to be when you
grew up.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I did not see myself in there, did not want
to be doing that. You know, That's basically what shows
you that you need to get out and do something
different is when you're doing farm labor. You know, anytime,
it doesn't matter if you're a little kid or you're
an adult, that's usually the time when you're like, oh,
it's either this or I'm gonna do something different.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I gotta go and grind to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
And so that's basically what I felt like as a youngster.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I was ready to get out. I Uh I did uh.
I did scuba. I was a scuba instructor for a bit.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
I did some land development stuff, scooba instructor, school instructor,
all these all these things helped me because with uh,
with the math that is in wine making, I'm not
formally trained. So these uh, these jobs that I have
that uh utilized equations and stuff like that helped me
(19:28):
to really get my math better, UH the science revolving
around it. After that, I did go to school, got
a science degree, just basic. I was going to become
a nurse at the same time I didn't get accepted
into nursing or because then I ended up actually becoming
a dental hygienist.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
But the nursing didn't happen, So I was going to
wait a year.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I was just gonna do full on chemistry BAUH with
with micro as.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
A kind of a background.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
But then I got accepted to the dental hygiene program.
Did that, and that's basically what helped us get started
with the winery because I could work about two to
three days a week at the dental office, and then
I can the rest of the seven days a week,
I can work wine and vineyard.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So on your weekends you're a dental hygienist and then
your day job is a winemaker.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Actually opposite.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I'm Monday through Wednesday half day at the dental office
and then seven days a week here.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So when you have free time, how do you like
to spend your free time? Do you still go scuba diving?
Speaker 4 (20:36):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
No, scuba diving, it's too cold up here. Monica was
going to WSU and that's basically what brought me back
from scuba, started the science stuff and started dental hygiene.
The reason why we started the winery is the building
that we're sitting in here. It's called the Winemaker's Loft
Improsser and the initial owner he created this as an
(20:58):
incubation facility. So there's seven different tasty room spots that
you could have been in and you can make from
you know, twenty five cases to about I think at
the time they said like three thousand. You know, they
would have been able to do three thousand.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
So we came in.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
We started with fifty cases. And that's probably the only
reason why we're in the wine business right now because
he gave us, but with his business plan, gave us
the opportunity to do this without overhead because we were.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
You know, we're we're coming from no money.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, we ever had his what will get you every time.
But so when you're not working, what do you like
to do?
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Kids, my kids doing all their sports and you know,
doing stuff with them, and if we can get away,
you know.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Going to to dinner and.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Relaxing and hanging with our friends, you know, back backyard barbecues,
hanging with friends and family, you know, just doing a
doing a you know, that's.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Not when you're planning a romantic evening for you and
Monica that has the kids going to bed early, or
maybe they're over at Grandma at Grandpa Martinez. What kind
of wines do you open that say this is a
romantic evening and just not an average night. Hmm.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
I guess probably some bubbly.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
What does Monica like?
Speaker 4 (22:23):
She likes it all bubbly, white red.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
So is there a piece of advice somebody gave you
along the way that you do you find that you
guide your life with. Maybe it was your dad, maybe
it was a teacher, a colleague, a friend. Is there
something someone told you along the way that you know
you you really feels how you live or work by.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
So my dad, since we were little kids, he has
this little saying when he leaves, and he tells my
kids nowadays it's it's h be good, be nice.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
And work hard.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
That's a mantra of life.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
That's a montreal life.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
So you're good, you work hard, and I'm nice.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, try to be nice.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
You see pretty nice. So when you look back at
your career, what would you say, is one of your
proudest achievements to date?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
I think just taking that step to try to make
wine in the first place. Uh, we didn't know how
to make wine. You know, we just had the background
of the grapes. Uh, slowly learned and and just you know,
took the chance. And and that's kind of back to
my original thing about you know, you you learned that
doing farm work from a young age that you're gonna
(23:39):
have to do something different. You got to take these
risks and and do stuff to to try to elevate
out of that.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
So great, so complete this sentence. For me, A table
without wine is like.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Mmmm, it's like, uh, like a full dinner table with
wine and food without anybody to share it with.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I thought you were gonna say, like a scuba tank
without air.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
That's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
You got that.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I was just gonna I don't know, care to mind
down underwater. So we're sitting at a big table here,
and we've got your bottles of wine on the table,
and there's a couple empty seats. If there was anyone
from any walk of life, living or deceased, famous, infamous, whatever,
(24:35):
who do you wish you could share a bottle of
Martinez and Martinez Wine's with.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
H one.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Two, I'd say, uh, Charlie, No Sanchez and Bob Marley. Okay,
and then if without any famous people, just my family.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, but you already share one family, that's true. Yeah,
we're not talking about the people you do drink with.
I'm talking about the people you wish you could drink with.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
They're both passed and there's no possible way we could
do it now, so yeah, they would be the ones.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
So it's aspirational. Absolutely. So Now I have another question
for you about drinking wine. If you were being sent
off to a deserted island and could only take three
wines with you, what three wines would you take with you?
And if they're specific wines, great, But if you're just
gonna give me a variety, just tell me what region
it's going to come from, you know, as specific wine.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Go for it.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I'd say cab from the Horse seven Hills.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Three bottles.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Uh No, so they're the.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Cab uh And yeah, the cab Horse seven Hills, three
different producers.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
You do like your Cabernet, Well, Drew, it's time now
to play our little game at the end as a
way to learn a little bit more about your specific
wines and pair them with music. It's all about emotion.
Wine makes us feel a certain way, as does music.
So let's talk about a couple of your wines, and
you tell me a song a musician that you think
(26:20):
represents it or you'd want to be listening to while
you drink this wine. So you started me today with
your chardonnay, So let's start with your chardonay.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Are we going to do all of them?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
No?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
I won't make you do all okay? Uh, We're going
to do three, three of them?
Speaker 5 (26:38):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
So I would say white wine chardonnay. I would say
Michael Salgado, palomito blanco.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Okay. And the chardonay is a nice you know, it's
like a crisper style chardonnay.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It's not naked, Yeah, it's naked naked Chardonnay stainless steel.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
Yeah, like crisp.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Okay. Let's do your rose of Cabernet savignon.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
So what's uh? What's the uh? Oh? Put me on
the spot with these.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Hopefully you can edit out my my lengthy.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
I can't remember the song, but it's uh, it's basically
about rose. It's uh it's popping bottles, Uh, something like that.
Nicki Minaj and uh Trey songs.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Okay, okay, and your horse heaven Hill's Cabernet.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
So uh hm hmmmm.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I mean, just you know, kind of talk me through.
What does the wine taste like?
Speaker 5 (28:07):
Is it big?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Is it smooth? Is it tannicky?
Speaker 5 (28:09):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (28:09):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (28:11):
It's it's a it's a bigger wine without the over abrasive.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Tannin.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Uh there's more silky uh dusty kind of tanning with that,
and but volumptuous fruit, great, great balance and you know,
nice acidity and all those things. For the I'd say
Latona from Lost Kindness the do you wanna?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, when you kind of describe the wine, it kind
of comes out that way. So that's perfect. You survived
three wines, three songs. You did it.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
You did it.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
There you go, Well, Drew, it's been wonderful chatting with you.
And I have one more question with the two parter,
and the first is what wine region in the world,
anywhere in the world, is at the top of your
bucket list that you wish you or you hope to
go to in the near future.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I'd say Spain, Okay, now Mexico, Now, Mexico, Mexico.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, they got some good one going there, right.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Watch how the food's really good there.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
Right, I'll be I'll be immune to those. Yeah, in
tune intune with them.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
And the other part of that question, and just to
complete it is people want to come here and visit you.
Where can they find Martinez? And Martinez you've talked a
little bit about him where you are. But when they
get here, what can they experience? What will they find
here at at your tasting room?
Speaker 3 (29:36):
The tasting room, Uh, we we're here to treat everybody
like family, introduce our wines and hope that people can enjoy.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
The facility has decor like Dia.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Delosrtos and other Latino heritage items on the walls, and
the ambiance and the music and and so you can
get away even you know you're in the heart of
the Lower Valley in Yakimo or Yakima Valley in Washington State,
you can it'll seem like you're somewhere else in.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
The in the world.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And so you can do a flight or you can
do a glass when you're here.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Yep, flight glass.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
We we actually about fifteen years ago we started not
under the recommendation of everybody else. They thought it was nuts. Again,
we started making slushies with our rose and with our
Albergo and and so you can get a mango and
YadA with tahina chamoy and you know.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Or you can do the Rose rita classic style margarita
but made with rose and enjoy that.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
And that's another thing that I'm not like.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
To too worried about what people think the norms of
the wine society is, because basically, the way I see
it is wine drinking is dropping, and we've all seen
it seventeen percent in the last however many years. So
we got to stop being that that uh you know
(31:09):
whatever people think. Yeah, that particular way that people assume wine.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
We got to get out of that or we're all going.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
To go down.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Well, you know, it's something for everyone. You got rose
white red slushies exactly. Hey, when it's ninety eight degrees outside,
I think a slushy sounds great.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
It is fabulous.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Well, dude, thank you so much for joining us on
Wine Soundtrack, and I will raise a glass to you
and say cheers.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Salu, Salu, thanks for listening to a new episode of
Wine Soundtrack USA. For details and updates, visit our website.
Windsoundtrack dot com
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with
which producers narrate their winery and their world. Team thirty
answers discover their stories, personalities, and passions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alson
Levine and I'm joined today by Drew Martinez of Martinez
and Martinez in the Yakima Valley in Washington State. Drew,
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack and tell us a little bit
about Martinez and Martinez.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
So my name is Drew Martinez. We're located in Prosper, Washington.
It's Martinez and Martinez Winery owned by myself, my wife Monica,
my dad Sergio, and my mom Christy. And we started
making wine in two thousand and five and we've.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Been in the same location now the whole time, in
this building.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And so you started making wine in two thousand and five,
but you have a longer history in this area.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Right right.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So we initially started out as a grape grower. My parents,
Sergio and Christi, planted a small three acre vineyard in
the Horse Heaven Hills in nineteen eighty one, now forty
two year old vineyard. It's the oldest in the top
oldest three in the Horse Heaven Hills, and so that
(01:14):
was the initial entry into the wine industry, learning about
grapes my whole life. I grew up in the vineyard
just a year or two younger than me and did
all aspects of growing.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Helping out. But my dad is the soul tender to
the vineyard and.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
He manages other vineyards around the valley.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
He also helps in vineyard production at alder Ridge Vineyard,
and he's been with them since they started planting the
grapes in nineteen ninety six. And it was from nineteen
ninety six until today they planted about fifteen hundred acres,
starting out with about eight hundred I think, but then
increasing over the last I mean, I can't I don't
(01:58):
know how many years it was.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So so you convinced him to start making wine, and
what what what was sort of the impetus to start
making wine.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So where my parents planted their vineyard, we're actually on
the same small micro climate within the Horse seven Hills
where the first or the top five point Cabernet sauvignons
have come from. And so this area is known in
the industry. You know, it's just known to have great grapes.
(02:29):
My parents they saw foresight. I guess in the eighties
nobody else was planting grapes. It was all cherries and apples.
There was one vineyard owner at Mercer Ranch Vineyard, that's
Don and Linda Mercer and Don was he had been
planting grapes. He's the first vineyard in Horse seven Hills
and he had a uh, he had a nursery and
(02:50):
he asked my dad, hey, Sergio, you want to I
want to grow some grapes. And my dad, my dad
actually came from Mutual com Mexico. He was raised in Modesto,
which is Gallo country, so they As a kid, he
worked in the vineyards and that's where he you know,
he had known about it, so he came up with
knowledge about grape growing here in Washington.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
It wasn't a mainstream thing, but he had that knowledge.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So I think that's how they kind of came together.
And he asked my dad, hey, you want to make
some wine. And for that same reason, my dad having
the background in viticulture as a young kid, that's how
he ended up with the job at the adulta ridge
with helping plant and raise the grapes there.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So you said you have three acres planted, that's a
state fruit, and then you're purchasing fruit from other places.
Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So we purchased from we have the three acres, it's
cabernet savignon only, that's the nineteen eighty one planting. Then
we source Carmenier Petite Verdeaux, some more cab zinfandel and
pretty much those from all the ridge, and then we
(04:01):
get whites from the Akama Valley from Tudor Hill's vineyard,
which is actually my wife's family, and she.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Was raised in grapes as well.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Her grandpa was one of the first wine makers and
actually maybe the first winemaker, Im Prosser, one of them anyways,
but he passed away unfortunately at a young age, and
their legacy didn't continue on. They wanted to tree fruit
and stuff, but later on came back to grapes and
they're growing grapes again. So we purchased Aubregno Roussin, Bonnier,
(04:34):
Pino Gres white wines from there in Chartnight.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Since I started with that, I taste a little of that.
And what's your total case production?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
We're no more than two thousand cases a.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Year, and are you fully direct to consumer or do
you have any distribution In the US.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
We're probably ninety five to ninety eight percent direct to
consumer and with just small local distribution.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Okay, So about you, Drew. I know that you said
that you grew up here, your dad has been a
grape grower your entire life. What is your first memory
relevant to wine and how old were you at what
point do you just kind of remember or was it
just always part of your life and you don't really
remember its standing out to you it as wine is
(05:20):
a thing.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I think grapes were like the first, you know, and
and just working doing weeding and helping with the things
where I couldn't reach the chord on with doing that
kind of stuff, and then slowly growing and doing suckering,
and then moving up into the court on as later
in life, those those types of things.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
How old were you when they put you in the
vineyard there?
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I was. I was young.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
The weeds were my first memory. Later on, later on
the grapes came, and then and then correlating it to wine,
it was it was pretty young because we tasted wine
as youngsters and so and then tasting grapes. I mean really,
that's that's where I see the vision of the wine,
(06:07):
just in the taste of the grape.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So, when you started actually drinking wine tasting wine, is
there a particular wine that stands out as sort of
an AHA wine for you? And not only what was
that wine, but what was it about it that was
so aha?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
I think.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
The AHA wine. I mean I just was with somebody
who was telling me his AHA wine, and I was like, Wow,
you got it from that? For me?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I didn't, I didn't. I guess I almost didn't have
an AHA wine.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
But I think my AHA was like Wow, this is
something that we've been doing for thirty years already, and
or twenty five at the time when they started getting
these hundred point wines out of out of my neighbor's
vineyards and stuff, and and so I was like, Aha,
this is what all the hard work has been for
(07:03):
to try to do something like that.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So you're working with a lot of you know, classic
red varieties, Bordeaux varieties, and some Rowan varieties. If we
came to your home, what would we find in there?
What do you what do you and Monica like to drink?
What do you sort of have in there. Is it
all wines you've made? Is it from particular producers or
any other regions or grapes that you like to explore
and that you have at home.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
I enjoy the Horse Heaven Hills. It's near and dear
to my heart.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
There is a you know, distinct flavored profile that I
guess I must have house palette with.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
But so those types.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
A lot of different wines from there, and then all
across Washington State you'll see very few of our own wines,
mostly other peoples. And whenever we go, we you know,
taste wine, purchase and have it around the house, not
only so that we have it to drink, but to
share when people come, because we like to promote other
(07:59):
people's stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
One of the you know, so when we were younger.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Monica and I have been together since our senior year
in high school, and so through the years, she started
drinking wine before myself.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
And I think one of her possible AHAs was actually.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
My neighbor here at Thurston Wolf Winery, and I think
it was like it was a red red wine and
it was kind of like, you know, she really enjoyed it.
I can't remember if it was like a mile Becker something,
but it was it was a red briding and it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Kind of pushed her. So is there anything you opened
up recently that drank really well?
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Of our owner of what did you.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Drink recently that drank really well? Was it your own
or someone else's?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
For the older older stuff, we.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Did a Petite for Dove vertical with from twenty ten
to twenty twenty one, and there was some fantastic vintages
all the way through, but some really stellars like twenty sixteen,
twenty twenty twelve, and you know, there was a couple
(09:13):
others that were just like from your own, from your own,
from our own actually.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, so something you can look back and see what
you've done.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yes, And we hadn't done it until this last year,
like a full vertical before of our own wine. We've
done verticals with other like cabs, but one was ours,
one was somebody else's so on, but never like our
whole vertical.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
So you work with a number of different grapes. Do
you think there's a such thing as a perfect variety?
Speaker 5 (09:40):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I'd say, you know that cab is pretty pretty perfect
in ways, especially from Horse Hills. Yeah, Horse Heaven Hills.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Of course, now you were talking about these one hundred
point wines that come out of course Heaven Hills.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
What is it?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
What is you know? It opened up your eyes. You said,
that was kind of an aha moment for you to
see that all the hard work gets paid off in
these scores. So to you, what is your opinion on
wine critics and scores? What is what is the value
the challenge or the benefit to you and of getting
a score or looking at what a wine critic offers.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
It's it's tough, especially being a small micro winery.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Uh, there's always room for the for bigger, larger wineries
to have the array of grapes and and all that stuff,
and it seems like they get the they get the
most benefit out of it.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
For us, you know, really, we're only we're here to
make wine that our family likes.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And uh and then if if we like it, we
we have some following that enjoys it as well. And
so critics, you know, I'm I'm kind of over them.
But it's always nice to get a great right.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Now, of course, of course, I mean, I mean, who
wouldn't want it? So I'm curious for you as a
wine drinker, red, white or rose.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Bread. I'd say red still are.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Sparkling still, see, I like I have to pause and
think just a little bit about that. So maybe you're
just like it all.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
You know, we just enjoyed some of your wines while
we were eating lunch before we sat down to talk here,
and obviously just had fun kind of tasting wine and eating.
But on a on a more you know, planned out
dinner or meal, how do you approach food and wine pairing?
Do you follow rules? Do you think that it's red
wine and steak, you know, meat, and you know it's
(11:44):
white wine and fish, or are there other guidelines that
you look for that's going to help you decide what
wine to order with a meal or vice versa. I
don't know what you pick first, the wine or the food.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, yeah, I think it probably is the food, and
then the wine comes kind of with it. And and yeah,
I think we do kind of stick to the the
lighter wines with the lighter kind of dishes, and then
the heavier with the heavy.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Stuff, and so it's more on texture and weight than
it is specifically white or red.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Yeah, yeah, kind of kind of that.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
And then we're also uh in a little difference where
I'm looking at like white wines with with white wines
with the camaron is that I would camarona is in Awa,
Chile and stuff like that, really light dishes where the
fishes cooked in the acidity, stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
And then for our reds, I'm.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Looking at carmoner with like the cot or or aas
or cottnitas and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
You're making me hungry. Make me hungry. So for somebody
who hasn't had the pleasure to taste Martinez and Martinez
wines yet, what do you think they're missing out on?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
H there, I think they're probably missing out on a
on a small view of of what wines should be.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
And our.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Starting out, we started with like fifty cases and people
just really.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Took to us and enjoyed the wines.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
So I feel like there is benefit to try and
smaller wines and hopefully we don't displease anybody.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And also we should note that you were saying that
you were the first Hispanic second Hispanic owned winery in
Washington State.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yeah, I think about there.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I don't want to say it too like that's set
in stone, but at the time we came in in
two thousand and five. There was one other Latuna wine
maker and we came in, and we had been the
only ones for quite a while. But now we're seeing
a little bit more. And I'm very ecstatic because I
feel like the Mexican I don't say just Mexican, because
(13:57):
now it's pseudomatic cardinals.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Everything there's there's a little so.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
I generalized with Latino and UH and basically we're our
communities are the ones doing the actual work in the field,
and so to get to that next level where you're
making your own wine any of those things is awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So absolutely so, if space aliens were to land here
at your property, at your tasting room, you know, park
their spaceship in the first spot out here, and knock
on the door, which of your wines would you want
to say, Welcome to Martinez and Martinez.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
I'd have to say our Rose. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Interestingly enough, the Rose just came about Uh in Uh
in the time crunch. In the crunch where we needed
a light colored wine. We had no no white grapes
at the time, and we decided to take this Cabernet
sauvignon that everybody told us. We were nuts for making
it into rose, and we made that rose and it's
(14:59):
been one of our top selling wines.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
People love it.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Clean, crisp, light, acidic, a little hint the sweetness, and
it's great for all summer long.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Well perfect and you know it's really pretty to look
at too. So you know, welcome to Martinez and Martinez.
So you grew up in the vines, and you know,
I know that you're not managing the vines. That's your
dad's job. And the Martinez and Martinez you have your
job to make the wine. He has his job to
grow the grapes. But I know you spend time out
(15:30):
there and have spent time out there and growing up
in an area like this. Every vintage tells a different
story in your experience. What do you see? Is there
a pattern, is there a sort of commonality, or is
there a lot of variation from year to year.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
It's a decent amount of variation, more than we'd think,
even though we go through the years and it seems like, oh, yeah,
it's hot this summer. You don't you take that into consideration.
But the spring may have been cooler, it may have
been warmer, it may have been and just wet, it
may have been dry. So there's all these factors. Each
year is just seems to be totally different to me.
(16:08):
But that's that's the way I feel.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And are there sort of any signs or predictors that
you look for when you're out in the vineyard that
are going to tell you what you're going to get
for the year, what kind of a harvest it's going
to be, or what kind of a vintage.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Uh, just how fruit's ripening when rasion happens, both in
whites or reds. I've looked towards reds and more when
very when that is happening. How how how the cluster
settings look after in the spring, you know, when when
(16:42):
things start to develop and in those types.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
So when you're walking out in the vineyard, because I'm
sure you spend time out there, and you have spent
lots of time visiting your old friends the weeds. When
you're out there, do you talk to the vines? Have
you talked to the vines? I mean, if they were
your first friends, I'm sure you did. But do you
still talk to the vines?
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Yeah? Tell them, tell him what callouses they've got me?
And yeah, we Uh, my dad is he's very romantified
in the vineyard.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
He's very in tune with with that and uh and for.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Me growing up, it was it was a lot of
work with but it's not.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
A little more cursing at the vines.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
There's a little more of that, but at the same time,
I definitely am seeing more of what he sees and
and it's uh, it's a super rigorously tough job in
the vineyard.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Wineery.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
You know it can be also, but vineyard is definitely
next level stuff for that. So uh just uh yeah,
keeping keeping thanks in there to continue producing and and
uh and we'll try not to give us too hard
up a time.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, so you keep them at bay. So once they
come in here and you make the wine, do you
have a little more tendency to talk to it?
Speaker 5 (18:04):
Then?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Do you have to encourage it or ever reprimand it?
Do you play music to your wine or do you
not believe in any of that stuff?
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Definitely serenade it with wine with music, with music you
personally sing, no, but I'll dance for it like crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, you give performances, I see, Okay, that's right. So
having grown up in this, is this something you always
knew you wanted to do or when you were a
little boy, what did you want to be when you
grew up.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I did not see myself in there, did not want
to be doing that. You know, That's basically what shows
you that you need to get out and do something
different is when you're doing farm labor. You know, anytime,
it doesn't matter if you're a little kid or you're
an adult, that's usually the time when you're like, oh,
it's either this or I'm gonna do something different.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I gotta go and grind to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
And so that's basically what I felt like as a youngster.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I was ready to get out. I Uh I did uh.
I did scuba. I was a scuba instructor for a bit.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
I did some land development stuff, scooba instructor, school instructor,
all these all these things helped me because with uh,
with the math that is in wine making, I'm not
formally trained. So these uh, these jobs that I have
that uh utilized equations and stuff like that helped me
(19:28):
to really get my math better, UH the science revolving
around it. After that, I did go to school, got
a science degree, just basic. I was going to become
a nurse at the same time I didn't get accepted
into nursing or because then I ended up actually becoming
a dental hygienist.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
But the nursing didn't happen, So I was going to
wait a year.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I was just gonna do full on chemistry BAUH with
with micro as.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
A kind of a background.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
But then I got accepted to the dental hygiene program.
Did that, and that's basically what helped us get started
with the winery because I could work about two to
three days a week at the dental office, and then
I can the rest of the seven days a week,
I can work wine and vineyard.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So on your weekends you're a dental hygienist and then
your day job is a winemaker.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Actually opposite.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I'm Monday through Wednesday half day at the dental office
and then seven days a week here.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So when you have free time, how do you like
to spend your free time? Do you still go scuba diving?
Speaker 4 (20:36):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
No, scuba diving, it's too cold up here. Monica was
going to WSU and that's basically what brought me back
from scuba, started the science stuff and started dental hygiene.
The reason why we started the winery is the building
that we're sitting in here. It's called the Winemaker's Loft
Improsser and the initial owner he created this as an
(20:58):
incubation facility. So there's seven different tasty room spots that
you could have been in and you can make from
you know, twenty five cases to about I think at
the time they said like three thousand. You know, they
would have been able to do three thousand.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
So we came in.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
We started with fifty cases. And that's probably the only
reason why we're in the wine business right now because
he gave us, but with his business plan, gave us
the opportunity to do this without overhead because we were.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
You know, we're we're coming from no money.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, we ever had his what will get you every time.
But so when you're not working, what do you like
to do?
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Kids, my kids doing all their sports and you know,
doing stuff with them, and if we can get away,
you know.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Going to to dinner and.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Relaxing and hanging with our friends, you know, back backyard barbecues,
hanging with friends and family, you know, just doing a
doing a you know, that's.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Not when you're planning a romantic evening for you and
Monica that has the kids going to bed early, or
maybe they're over at Grandma at Grandpa Martinez. What kind
of wines do you open that say this is a
romantic evening and just not an average night. Hmm.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
I guess probably some bubbly.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
What does Monica like?
Speaker 4 (22:23):
She likes it all bubbly, white red.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
So is there a piece of advice somebody gave you
along the way that you do you find that you
guide your life with. Maybe it was your dad, maybe
it was a teacher, a colleague, a friend. Is there
something someone told you along the way that you know
you you really feels how you live or work by.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
So my dad, since we were little kids, he has
this little saying when he leaves, and he tells my
kids nowadays it's it's h be good, be nice.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
And work hard.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
That's a mantra of life.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
That's a montreal life.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
So you're good, you work hard, and I'm nice.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, try to be nice.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
You see pretty nice. So when you look back at
your career, what would you say, is one of your
proudest achievements to date?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
I think just taking that step to try to make
wine in the first place. Uh, we didn't know how
to make wine. You know, we just had the background
of the grapes. Uh, slowly learned and and just you know,
took the chance. And and that's kind of back to
my original thing about you know, you you learned that
doing farm work from a young age that you're gonna
(23:39):
have to do something different. You got to take these
risks and and do stuff to to try to elevate
out of that.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
So great, so complete this sentence. For me, A table
without wine is like.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Mmmm, it's like, uh, like a full dinner table with
wine and food without anybody to share it with.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I thought you were gonna say, like a scuba tank
without air.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
That's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
You got that.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I was just gonna I don't know, care to mind
down underwater. So we're sitting at a big table here,
and we've got your bottles of wine on the table,
and there's a couple empty seats. If there was anyone
from any walk of life, living or deceased, famous, infamous, whatever,
(24:35):
who do you wish you could share a bottle of
Martinez and Martinez Wine's with.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
H one.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Two, I'd say, uh, Charlie, No Sanchez and Bob Marley. Okay,
and then if without any famous people, just my family.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, but you already share one family, that's true. Yeah,
we're not talking about the people you do drink with.
I'm talking about the people you wish you could drink with.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
They're both passed and there's no possible way we could
do it now, so yeah, they would be the ones.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
So it's aspirational. Absolutely. So Now I have another question
for you about drinking wine. If you were being sent
off to a deserted island and could only take three
wines with you, what three wines would you take with you?
And if they're specific wines, great, But if you're just
gonna give me a variety, just tell me what region
it's going to come from, you know, as specific wine.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Go for it.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I'd say cab from the Horse seven Hills.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Three bottles.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Uh No, so they're the.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Cab uh And yeah, the cab Horse seven Hills, three
different producers.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
You do like your Cabernet, Well, Drew, it's time now
to play our little game at the end as a
way to learn a little bit more about your specific
wines and pair them with music. It's all about emotion.
Wine makes us feel a certain way, as does music.
So let's talk about a couple of your wines, and
you tell me a song a musician that you think
(26:20):
represents it or you'd want to be listening to while
you drink this wine. So you started me today with
your chardonnay, So let's start with your chardonay.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Are we going to do all of them?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
No?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
I won't make you do all okay? Uh, We're going
to do three, three of them?
Speaker 5 (26:38):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
So I would say white wine chardonnay. I would say
Michael Salgado, palomito blanco.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Okay. And the chardonay is a nice you know, it's
like a crisper style chardonnay.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It's not naked, Yeah, it's naked naked Chardonnay stainless steel.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
Yeah, like crisp.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Okay. Let's do your rose of Cabernet savignon.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
So what's uh? What's the uh? Oh? Put me on
the spot with these.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Hopefully you can edit out my my lengthy.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
I can't remember the song, but it's uh, it's basically
about rose. It's uh it's popping bottles, Uh, something like that.
Nicki Minaj and uh Trey songs.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Okay, okay, and your horse heaven Hill's Cabernet.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
So uh hm hmmmm.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I mean, just you know, kind of talk me through.
What does the wine taste like?
Speaker 5 (28:07):
Is it big?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Is it smooth? Is it tannicky?
Speaker 5 (28:09):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (28:09):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (28:11):
It's it's a it's a bigger wine without the over abrasive.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Tannin.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Uh there's more silky uh dusty kind of tanning with that,
and but volumptuous fruit, great, great balance and you know,
nice acidity and all those things. For the I'd say
Latona from Lost Kindness the do you wanna?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, when you kind of describe the wine, it kind
of comes out that way. So that's perfect. You survived
three wines, three songs. You did it.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
You did it.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
There you go, Well, Drew, it's been wonderful chatting with you.
And I have one more question with the two parter,
and the first is what wine region in the world,
anywhere in the world, is at the top of your
bucket list that you wish you or you hope to
go to in the near future.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I'd say Spain, Okay, now Mexico, Now, Mexico, Mexico.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, they got some good one going there, right.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Watch how the food's really good there.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
Right, I'll be I'll be immune to those. Yeah, in
tune intune with them.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
And the other part of that question, and just to
complete it is people want to come here and visit you.
Where can they find Martinez? And Martinez you've talked a
little bit about him where you are. But when they
get here, what can they experience? What will they find
here at at your tasting room?
Speaker 3 (29:36):
The tasting room, Uh, we we're here to treat everybody
like family, introduce our wines and hope that people can enjoy.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
The facility has decor like Dia.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Delosrtos and other Latino heritage items on the walls, and
the ambiance and the music and and so you can
get away even you know you're in the heart of
the Lower Valley in Yakimo or Yakima Valley in Washington State,
you can it'll seem like you're somewhere else in.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
The in the world.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And so you can do a flight or you can
do a glass when you're here.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Yep, flight glass.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
We we actually about fifteen years ago we started not
under the recommendation of everybody else. They thought it was nuts. Again,
we started making slushies with our rose and with our
Albergo and and so you can get a mango and
YadA with tahina chamoy and you know.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Or you can do the Rose rita classic style margarita
but made with rose and enjoy that.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
And that's another thing that I'm not like.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
To too worried about what people think the norms of
the wine society is, because basically, the way I see
it is wine drinking is dropping, and we've all seen
it seventeen percent in the last however many years. So
we got to stop being that that uh you know
(31:09):
whatever people think. Yeah, that particular way that people assume wine.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
We got to get out of that or we're all going.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
To go down.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Well, you know, it's something for everyone. You got rose
white red slushies exactly. Hey, when it's ninety eight degrees outside,
I think a slushy sounds great.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
It is fabulous.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Well, dude, thank you so much for joining us on
Wine Soundtrack, and I will raise a glass to you
and say cheers.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Salu, Salu, thanks for listening to a new episode of
Wine Soundtrack USA. For details and updates, visit our website.
Windsoundtrack dot com
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