#269 An enemy from within? Martinez Port

Now in its 220^th year, Martinez was established by Spaniard Sebastian Gonzalez Martinez, who built his company up to be the biggest shipper of port to the UK when he retired in 1849, but since then has slumped considerably.  Passing through the hands of Harvey’s of Bristol, Allied Domecq it is now with the Symington Family Estates, owners of Graham’s, Warre’s and Dow’s. 

I’d tried a few Martinez vintage ports before, including the 1927 and the 1958, but their main range of ruby, Late Bottled Vintage and Tawny’s had never come across my path.  So, presented with the opportunity, I jumped at it.

Unfortunately, the likes of Taylors, Fonseca and Symington’s own Grahams LBV are the biggest obsticle for Martinez’s two red ports at this time of year, as they hack back the prices of their LBVs to under a tenner.  To the average punter, just looking at the price, Martinez will always get shunned in favour of a promotion from one of these discounted brands. 

And that is a shame, because both the Fine Ruby and the 2005 Late Bottled Vintage are really good ports.  The Fine Ruby, retailing at around £11, has lush cherry and damson jam aromas, with fresh fruit backing it up, a lot of dark chocolate and toffee too. A juicy palate follows on, with slight savoury elements, and five spice chocolate coming through late on.  It is a nice port, and well worth the money.  7.5/10

The Martinez LBV 2005 is a lot lighter, and that pleased me.  Herbal aromas with blueberries and a slight cough drop smell to it, which I liked a lot.  There is a spiced sweet fruit chutney flavour at first and then a wallop of pepper, mint and alcohol.  Having said all that, it is a really tasty port, much better than the likes of Grahams and Taylors and, even at £14, is a good buy.  8/10

I’m a big fan of Tawny port and Martinez’s 10 Year Old Tawny is one of the best that I’ve had in a long while.  A nose full of raisins, a malty element that reminded me of a port casked Speyside whisky, and lots of nuts and dried fruit peel came leaping out of the glass.  The palate is very soft, more cereal elements and dried raisins, dates and peanut mixed with honey and bitter marmalade.  A staggeringly good port at £23.  8/10

Finally was the 20 year old Tawny, and again there are two main problems.  Firstly, it isn’t as good as Niepoort’s, but it also isn’t the £50 that Niepoort’s 20 year old is.  The second problem is that it is priced similarly to Taylors 20 Year Old Tawny, that has the big name and, more importantly around Christmas, a fancy box that makes it perfect for a present.  I know that it isn’t important, as the contents of the bottle are the bit that makes it good or bad, but commercially, Martinez are missing a trick here.  Put it in a fancy box, charge an extra quid and you will sell more – simple! 

Having said all that, this £33 port is pretty good.  It’s flavours and aromas pretty much echo the ten year old, just more subtle, more balanced and, more importantly, better quality!  Honey roasted nuts, with lots of toasty elements come through on the finish, that is wonderfully dry.  It is a great port, and well worth the money.  7.5/10

These ports are all good, and worth the money, but if Symingtons are going to make Martinez great again, they need to look at the pricing, the marketing and the competition from both outside and inside their group.  In the meantime, if you are a port drinker and fancy a great port and don’t mind spending a few extra quid for a product that is much better than the competition, take a look at Martinez - you might find you prefer it over Graham's or Dow's!