A first-generation American, Martin is the first Master of Wine of Mexican descent. With a prolific career as a buyer, importer, educator, and more recently, winemaker, he has held influential roles in many sectors of the industry. Martin’s wine story began with an over-indulgent dinner while studying in Paris as a Stanford undergraduate and, by 2003, he was stocking shelves at K&L Wine Merchants in California. After managing St. Helena Wine Center for several years, Martin was hired as the principal buyer & importer for prominent wine club programs for partners such as The New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, and Williams-Sonoma. In 2015, he was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s Top Forty under Forty Tastemakers. That same year, he worked the harvest at Salomon Undhof in Austria. 

Martin Reyes MW

Today, Martin directs the production for Sonoma-based Peter Paul Wines, works closely with Spottswoode Estate on climate action & sustainability initiatives, and consults across the full wine supply chain. Clients have included Vice Versa Wines, Copa Fina Wine Imports, and Vivino.com. He launched Reyes Selections in 2018, a small portfolio of his favorite producers, singled out from years spent sourcing wines globally for the US market.

An internationally recognized wine professional, Martin has judged at International Wine Challenge, Decanter World Wine Awards, USA Wine Ratings, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, and Taittinger Sommelier d’Or Competition, Mexico; and most recently, the James Beard Foundation, and recently won Best Paper Award at the AAWE Conference, Vienna 2019 for his research in wine purchasing behavior. In his spare time, he’s an instructor for GrapeExperience.com and SFWineSchool.com. Martin is attempting to become fluent in a fifth language and raise his two children trilingualy, together with his wife in Vallejo, CA.

About Masters of Wine

The Institute of Masters of Wine is a membership organization whose members are the Masters of Wine. The IMW’s mission is to promote excellence, interaction, and learning across all sectors of the global wine community.

MWs prove their understanding of all aspects of wine by passing the MW exam, recognized globally for its rigor and exacting standards. The MW exam involves a series of theory papers and blind tasting examinations, plus an individual research paper on a subject that will contribute to the understanding of the world of wine. After passing the exam, MWs are required to sign a code of conduct before they are entitled to use the initials MW. The code of conduct requires MWs to act with honesty and integrity and to use every opportunity to share their understanding of wine with others. Since the first exam in 1953, 493 people have become MW, and the IMW actively seeks new candidates around the world.

Martin Reyes with other America's top wine buyers that includes 14 masters of wine and regional and national buyers will gather in San Francisco this July to judge the 2021 USA Wine Ratings.

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The USA Wine Ratings competition, which is organized by Beverage Trade Network prides itself on working with preeminent judges that have direct buying responsibility in their roles. This competition that happens every year in San Francisco will see buyers assess wines by their quality, value, and package.