Summer is the time for sangria, and no one knows that better than former Hoboken resident Rick Martinez, who started his own brand of the fruity beverage from his Hoboken pad on Jackson Street in 2006. Now, more than 4,000 cases – or 48,000 bottles – of Senor Sangria are projected to be distributed this year to over 200 customers all across the state.
Although the recipe is top secret, Senor Sangria blends real fruit juices, like orange and lime, and a Chilean merlot bottled at the Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, N.Y.
According to Martinez, his sangria has a more “thick and viscous mouth-feel,” which tastes and feels like real sangria not just “fruity tasting wine.” The company does not filter the all-natural juice used in the recipe, which leaves a sediment of pulp at the bottom of the bottle. Senor Sangria must be shaken before opening and is best served over ice.
“Sangria is meant to be fun.” – Rick Martinez
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“For example, we used to use Minute Maid orange juice at home, but they’re not going to sell us thousands of gallons of juice,” he said. Instead, Martinez teamed up with the Brotherhood Winery to bottle the beverage on site.
But getting wholesalers to carry the product was harder than Martinez expected.
After numerous rejections, he applied for his own $5,000 wholesale liquor license through the state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
“I had to distribute it out of the back of my [Nissan] Pathfinder,” he said. “Believe me, I got more than a couple strange looks.”
Sales have risen steadily since March 2009 when his product finally hit liquor store shelves, selling at a suggested $8.99 a bottle. Other popular sangrias like Real Sangria imported from Spain sell from $5.99 and up.
“The difference between our sangrias and our competitors,” Martinez said, “is that we wouldn’t be able to export our product. We use all natural, local ingredients.”
The Senor Sangria story
For Martinez, all the credit for the idea to bottle homemade sangria goes to his new wife Maria Camelo.
“I was finding myself making more and more sangria,” he said, “and lugging around jars and jars of it [to parties].”
One night after the couple attended a gathering in Hoboken, Camelo suggested he start the business and even thought of a name: Senor Sangria. “The next day the idea was still in my head,” he said.
The entrepreneur soon sold his apartment on Jackson between First and Second streets for upwards of $200,000 and started the company. “I used the capital slowly and it went a long way. Most of the money went into the business,” he said. “And the rest went to the wedding.”
Gaining community support
Hoboken’s own Sparrow Wine and Liquor was one of the first stores to stock the sangria.
“They were really great to us and got behind us,” he said. “I’ve lived in Hoboken and shopped in their store. They didn’t know me, but I knew them.”
Martinez had moved to Hoboken in 2001 and lived in the town for eight years before moving out in 2006. He now lives in Maplewood, N.J.
“It was some of the best years of my life,” he said. “In Hoboken you get to spend a lot of time outdoors.”
For Martinez, Sangria is the perfect drink for the dog days of summer spent at outdoor cafes along Hoboken’s popular avenues.
“Sangria is meant to be fun,” he said, “especially in the summer.”
Senor Sangria is available in numerous locations in Hudson County, including Hoboken, Jersey City, Union City, Bayonne, North Bergen and West New York. To order online, visit the company’s website: www.senorsangria.com.
Sean Allocca can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com