Martin is a 35 year veteran of the Canadian Movie Industry, working on many movie, television and commercial productions as a special effects supervisor. His personal characteristics include an analytical and creative mind and certainly an independent nature choosing hobbies such as climbing, flying, diving and cooking.

While Martin has never lost interest in the movie business, he has become financially successful in several other areas including real estate development and as a venture capitalist investing in other small businesses which leads us to wine.

In the mid-70s, Martin became interested in wine and began travelling in various wine regions to increase his knowledge and to add to his personal wine cellar. The change from wine enthusiast to more active involvement was spurred in 1994 when Martin was working on "Trapped in Paradise" in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He spent his free time taking a closer look at potential vineyard properties available and the wineries in existence in Niagara at that time. Although he had been looking on a casual basis much earlier than this, he decided then to become more diligent about acquiring a vineyard in Niagara.

With the encouragement of his partner Moira, who was equally interested in purchasing a vineyard property, Martin made a lifestyle decision to buy a vineyard in Beamsville and to build a weekend home. After acquiring this vineyard property in 1995 (now known as the Moira Vineyard), they oversaw their first harvest in 1996. By then totally engaged by the challenges of growing and making wine, Martin and Moira decided to develop a small but meaningful winery – and The Malivoire Wine Company was born.

Not purely a business decision, the key factors for Martin and Moira included the objective of incorporating a lifestyle choice with a love and respect of the outdoors, a life-long interest in wine, and the belief that they have the ability to build a meaningful vineyard and winery operation. It was also important to them to be able to actively participate, both physically and intellectually, in any business venture.