| Martinez was founded in
1797 in London by D. Sebastian Gonzales Martinez, a spaniard who sold cigars, cherry and
Port, Jonh Peter Gassiot join the firm in 1822. It was not until 1834 that the company
took a lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. For more than a century the house focused on bulk sales
to clients in the U.K. who than bottled the wines under their own names. Martinez Gassiot goes almost unnoticed in the Vintage Port
circles, but the house often makes outstanding Ports that equal on better those of its
sister house, Cockburn's Smithes.
Prodution of Martinez Vintage Port is limited, with
only about 3.000 cases made in a declaration. Martinez include only one single quinta
called Eira Velha, located west of Pinhão Valley, Eira Velha encompasses about 120 acres,
with a 65 under vine. |