Andrés and Nico Martell, founders
“The inception of Vin Ambassador was a slightly drunk and slumberous conversation between my father and I in the fall of 2005”
Mail-call is among the sweetest moments for a United States Marine. Packages from my father were always the same: wine and handwritten letters. Evenings were set aside and we pulled corks together - over the phone. Identical bottles, thousands of miles away. Experiencing the same juice, associating the same memories.
Pulling a bottle from the case, the conversation always started the same. I asked him to tell me something about a given bottle. His response: “you tell ME something about it.” The conversation would the transition into a spectacular story about how he came across the label and the wondrous roads that lead him there.
Giving the glass five big swirls one night, I exhaled and brought the wine to my nose. Searching. Goose bumps covered my arms, the little hair I had stood up on the back of my neck. “It reminds me of… the hot bricks on the patio, eating dinner in the late afternoon… is that crazy?”
He explained to me that magic of wine. Memories are most strongly associated with our sense of smell. Wine, in all of its complexity can conjure an array of memories and associations, some long since forgotten. The revelation threw jet fuel on my ever-growing passion for wine.
Swirling the final half glass I confided in him that I was ready for my next big adventure…“All I know for sure is that I want to get more into wine and travel.” He remarked that I had all the direction I needed and added that I hurry home.
We spent my first three months home exploring the Northern California wine country, tasting the wine we had shared at key moments of my enlistment. In the spring of 2006 the company was founded and we began sharing the idea with like-minded individuals seeking access, exposure and understanding.
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