The view of an international Commodity trader takes…on the Wonderful world of Wines

I have chosen to write under the alias of M.J. San Martin this for various reasons, one being the Spanish proverb “meeting one’s San Martin” meaning as much as reaching ones end, ones end of one or another road, fin de carriere, destiny, fate etc… This is what I felt when I decided to become a blogger for VintoVino and to begin translating my private wine track record from experiences locked up in my brain on to paper. Although I have a – however non English rooted – literary education and a soul cultivated by continuous, in fact perpetual, never ending reading, I rolled head over tail, after advanced business studies, from a promising career in the UK and USA banking into USA State licensing exams to become a USA registered commodity futures broker, working with and for a true international clientele developed by myself by extremely hard work, extensive knowledge of how international markets tick and of  course an in depth knowledge of a handful languages. There was a time I could easily compete with the number of countries Hilary Clinton visited, it was at the time that I stopped counting at 65. Many to these countries I visited more than once and stayed in some cases for months at a stretch, in some I lived, had property, offices, friends, even wives, children, in short enough to qualify as more than a casual passer through. Intense trading, brokerage, travelling, this way of life brings one more than often in prime restaurants and when one dines well, one “wines” well, I learned first the nice way later the hard way – lot of time in fitness clubs to fight off excess weight gained, my weight patterns through the years resembles a long term chart of an erratic crude oil market.

The point I am trying to make here is that good food inevitably brings fine wines to the table, good chefs, sommeliers, take care that the interested culinary amateur quickly turns into a seasoned professional when it comes to composing a private list of favorite wines, the mental ranking fo wines one likes, this should also be one guidance, criteria to determine what I like repeat I like, it is really not more complicated than this notwithstanding what many self-proclaimed insiders might want to push you into. Follow always first your own taste.

This is the way I got in to the wine trade – together with my Rio de Janeiro born, consequently “carioca” wife notwithstanding her Indonesian mother and Dutch father – around 25 years ago. We took a majority interest in a small wine trading company which we through the years built into more than substantial operation. Formally I was the financial partner and my wife ran the day by day business, it remained a hobby to me as I kept trading the international, metal and primarily copper markets, my wife submerged herself completely into the exiting and fulfilling wine trade.
We made a lot of purchasing trips together, as a rule we spent at least one month a year in the Americas included the Caribbean and visited and also participated with stands on international wine trade fairs.

After my wife passed away I liquidated our wine biz and limited myself to trading the international futures markets, and took up writing as a pass time, writing about the business side of the wine trade, a perspective not too many people know about. I leave tasting, pricing and rating of the world fine wines to the many very capable internet connoisseurs on their websites.

But I also feel the VintoVino’s way of leaving this to the internet vendors, vineyards, merchants etc. establishing direct contact with the surfing customers as the best way to go about this and I am confident that the near future will confirm that VIntoVino is venturing into the only right direction to make wine available, support and facilitate immediate and most direct access in the fastest and cheapest way possible in the present Wonderful Wine World.

M.J. San Martin

Note:
I write this blog alone, from personal memory, more often than not quickly without assistance, support whatever, this makes unintentional errors, oversights ref. grammar, styling, etc. more than only possible, if and when, noticed by the reader herewith my sincerest excuses in advance.