Sonoma Story: Nancy Martin looks back

There was a time when the Greyhound bus stopped in Sonoma. Nancy Martin discovered that bit of history when she, her young daughter and musician husband opened a business in the old bus building in 1976. She removed years of grime from the abandoned Greyhound station on the Plaza and opened an upscale womenswear boutique. Ahead of her time, the town had yet to become a tourist destination and that business closed.

In her recently published memoir, “From the Summer of Love to the Valley of the Moon,” Martin traces her journey from 1960s San Francisco to a life in the Sonoma wine industry, helping husband Joe Martin usher St. Francis Winery to prominence. Along the way she shares her struggles through challenging marriages and a serious health crisis.

“The wine industry was in its infancy,” Martin said about her arrival in Sonoma in an interview with the Index-Tribune. “It was an exciting time. I wanted to be part of that.”

She took night classes in viticulture, enology and wine marketing at SRJC (Santa Rosa Junior College). During the day, she worked retail at the mall in Santa Rosa. With her educational credentials in hand, Martin set out to find a job, first approaching St. Francis Winery. Hired to work weekends in the tasting room, her natural sales ability led to working five days a week. “It was easy to promote St. Francis wines,” Martin said. “They were wonderful. And still are.”

On becoming more familiar with the wines, Martin applied for an outside sales position. Though she didn’t realize it at the time, her interview with Joe Martin, winery founder, would become life changing. “At 6-feet-3-inches tall, weighing over 250 pounds, Joe struck an imposing figure,” Martin said. Seated behind his desk, he perused her resume. “We have distributors all over the country, but no sales rep in Sonoma. Would you like to give it a try?”

Nancy Martin brought in much new business from local stores and restaurants. “Joe trusted me. He encouraged me to come up with new ideas,” she says. And that she did. She initiated the Guest Chef program, where chefs paired St. Francis wines with food, their recipes posted in stores alongside the wines. This led to on-site wine pairings, the precursor of today’s popular St. Francis events.

Back then restaurants refrained from selling wine by the glass concerned they’d be stuck with wine they’d have to toss. Martin persuaded them to take the risk. “There was so much excitement in the wine business back then. A lot of that history is in my book,” she says. Eventually, she was promoted to sales manger and public relations director. “I had a good marriage, a family and an exciting career. It was a happy time,” she says. That would soon come to an end.

She was diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumor and the surgery to remove it left half her face palsied. Her husband left her. Friends, including Joe Martin visited. He encouraged her to return to work. With a floppy hat and sunglasses to conceal her face, she gave it a try. “I had lost all self-esteem,” she says. A month later she resigned.

Subsequent reconstructive surgeries failed and Martin went through a downward spiral. Eventually she got herself together taking classes in fitness and nutrition. She became a fitness instructor at Sonoma’s Parkpoint Health Club. With monies from the sale of her parent’s home in Marin, she purchased a place in Glen Ellen. She outfitted a gym and became a personal trainer. She had horses and rode regularly. And she reconnected with old friend Joe Martin whose wife of 43 years had passed away.

“By the early ‘80s Joe and St. Francis winemaker Tom Mackey had gained national recognition for their wines, and for Sonoma County grapes,” Martin said. Merlot had been used primarily as a blending grape. St. Francis established merlot as their signature varietal. Sensing an opportunity in aging zinfandel vineyards, the winery released one of the first “old vine” zinfandels. In 2003, Joe Martin sold the winery, now producing 300,000 cases, to Kobrand, owned by the Kopf family. He remained as a consultant, continuing to go to his office.

In 2004, Joe and Nancy married. “In public, Joe was a sociable, bigger-than-life figure. Kind and generous, he supported many charities, particularly those for kids,” Martin said. His private life was quite different. He suffered severe bouts of depression and erratic behaviors. “Over the 11 years of our marriage, Joe became more volatile. I urged him to seek help,” Martin said. On a trip to Italy, he fell and suffered a stroke. During his rehabilitation, Kaiser Permanente diagnosed Joe as bipolar, manic-obsessive compulsive, a condition similar to others in his family. In 2015, he passed away at age 80.

Following his death, Nancy Martin contacted 3rd District Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane, an advocate for mental health. Through Zane, Martin became aware of the efforts of medical professionals, politicians and many others seeking to bring help to those in need. “I feel sure that if my husband had not been in denial about his mental health issues because of stigma and shame, he might have sought help. In retrospect, our life and marriage could have been so very different.”

“From the Summer of Love to the Valley of the Moon” reads like a novel; yet it’s a memoir. It’s the story of a woman who experienced love and happiness, grief and despair, and refused to give up.

Nancy Martin’s book is available at Readers’ Books.