About Martinez

John and Christine Martinez founded Martinez Fine Wine in 1981 purely as a wholesale operation working from their home in Bradford. In September 1982 the first shop was opened on the Grove in Ilkley before expanding to a second shop in Harrogate in 1984, followed by a third in Street Lane, Leeds in 1986. Unfortunately John’s ill health forced them to close the Leeds and Harrogate shops in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

In 1993 John’s son Julian, returning from having worked in the wine trade in France, Spain and New Zealand, joined John and Christine as a partner in the business and in 1994 took over the business completely. In the years up to 2000 Julian opened three franchised shops in Harrogate, Halifax and Horsforth and began a new wholesale division. In January 2000 the Ilkley shop moved across the road and 100 yards down the Grove to the existing location.

2003 saw another restructure, consolidating the business back to Ilkley. The Harrogate and Halifax shops were bought out by the respective partners and the Horsforth shop was closed. This resulted in a year of great change but allowed the business to be brought back to basics and new and more robust systems were put in place. This allowed Julian to take the business from strength to strength establishing a seemingly endless series of wine events: exclusive and En Primeur offers, tastings and dinners featuring prestigious guest speakers from the wine industry. He also established the Martinez Extravaganza - an annual wine tasting showcasing over 200 wines and in the process raising money for different charities. (In 2009 £2,500 was raised for Amnesty International). By this time Martinez Wines on the Grove was an established part of Ilkley life and we celebrated it’s 25th anniversary in 2007.

Sadly 2008 saw a tragic turn of events when Julian died very unexpectedly, this coming only 18 months after the death of his father John. Although reeling from this shock the loyal and hard working Martinez staff , helped out by Robert (Julian’s brother) and Christine succeeded in keeping the business running smoothly, carrying on the tradition of the Martinez approach to selling wines.

Unless we are completely happy with a product we will not stock it. Everything we stock has been through a rigorous selection process with all members of staff involved in tastings. This enables us to sell everything we stock with confidence as we have the product knowledge and tasting experience required. Our customers can therefore be assured that whichever wine they select has been carefully chosen with only quality and value in mind.