Inniskillin Okanagan Winemaker Sandor Mayer

When it comes to winemaking, you might say that Sandor Mayer started small. Born and raised in Hungary, the winemaker for Inniskillin Okanagan recalls how his own family, as well as many of their neighbours, maintained personal vineyards and winemaking operations. “I learned basic techniques from my father,” says Mayer. “We had a small vineyard and he made hobby wine. I picked up an interest in some of these local, native grape varieties in Hungary and I just loved those different varieties that were grown in my region.”

After studying viticulture and horticulture from 1972 to 1976, Mayer’s deeply held appreciation for grape growing landed him at the Central Research Station in Kecskemét, Hungary, where he studied breeding, crossbreeding and ancient grape varietals. “Here, I made wine in a micro-vinification scale; we had more than 100 different lots,” he says. Graduating from the University of Kecskemét in 1981, he landed vineyard-management positions first in Hungary and then Austria.

Mayer says he first heard of the Okanagan Valley in 1988 via an uncle who had fled to Canada from Hungary during the revolution of 1956, settling originally in Manitoba. When his uncle relocated to Westbank, near Kelowna, he wasted no time sending word to his viticulture-obsessed nephew about the area’s ideal grape-growing conditions. Mayer came to Canada in 1988. In 1990, he was hired by Inniskillin predecessor Okanagan Vineyards to plant what was then known as the “Dark Horse Vineyard,” and took on Dark Horse’s winemaking duties in 1993.

It’s now been three decades since Mayer’s days in Kecskemét; however, he says he returns to Hungary often and has maintained close connections with the research facility. “I am always updated on the latest of what is going on there and I try to apply that here,” he says. “When I look to my background, certainly I am putting my skill, and part of the style, what I learned, back into my wine.” This combination of scientific know-how and not-so-scientific appreciation continues to serve him well. “I have a great respect for the grapes we grow, and I am always going for the highest potential in those grapes."

Sandor Mayer’s Canada Day Wine Pick

Inniskillin Pinot Grigio (any vintage)

Since Canada Day falls during the height of summer, Mayer chose a “lovely, refreshing wine,” although if there’s red meat on the barbecue, he suggests pairing it with an Inniskillin Meritage or the Discovery Series Malbec.

For more profiles of winemakers in Canada, check out our Oh! Canada feature from the June/July 2011 issue.