Thirty years ago, Gary Eberle had an epiphany. After achieving academic and athletic success at Penn State University in the 1960’s – and while pursuing his doctorate in zoology at Louisiana State University – Eberle met a professor who introduced him to the world of wine, which significantly changed his life. Shortly thereafter, Gary made the move to Northern California and in 1973 graduated from U.C. Davis’s winemaking doctoral program and headed straight to Paso Robles.

Winemaker (Ben Mayo)

Mayo’s career at Eberle began as a cellar worker, graduated to Assistant Winemaker (he made half of the 2002 reds under winemaker Bill Sheffer) and in 2003, Ben Mayo became Winemaker at Eberle Winery (the day after his first child, daughter Zoey, was born.)  Mayo recalls that everyone had faith in him but himself.  “There are an enormous amount of people depending on my product,” he says.  “And I consider making wine a constant work in progress.  But I’ve chosen to make Eberle my career and it’s a great adventure for me.  Even in the tough years, dealing with Mother Nature, I still love what I do.  For me, making wine is about elegance.  I pay attention to detail.  As I like to say, my science background gets me through harvest, but it’s my artistic side that helps me in blending and creating beautiful wines.”

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