Climate pressure and generational change are reshaping the Okanagan wine industry—and a cohort of women is leading the response. Some draw on deep-rooted family legacies; others have arrived via global cellars or hard pivots from entirely different careers. What unites them isn’t pedigree but pragmatism: a readiness to adapt, a bias toward collaboration and a determination to redefine what Okanagan wine can be.
Gina Fernandes Harfman — Nostalgia Wines | Oliver
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Gina Fernandes Harfman grew up on her family’s orchard-turned-vineyard in Osoyoos, learning early that farming demands patience, hard work and respect for the land. In 2009, she tried winemaking for the first time, crafting a gewürztraminer and a merlot for a family event. “I used hand-pinstriped labels for 350 guests and something clicked,” she shares. “The blend of artistry and agriculture felt like home.”
That sparked an unexpected career pivot from airbrushing classic cars to becoming assistant winemaker at Oliver Twist Estate Winery. Soon after joining—at age 32 and with a newborn—she received an offer from the owners to buy the business and she accepted.
In 2021, she rebranded the operation as Nostalgia Wines, which was voted third-best small winery in the 2024 WineAlign National Wine of Awards of Canada. Harfman believes that success doesn’t always follow a linear path, and that passion, perspective and trust can turn a small business into something unique.
Sandy Leier — Laughing Stock Vineyards | Naramata
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Sandy Leier didn’t expect to go into winemaking after getting her chemistry degree. But when she landed an assistant winemaker job fresh out of UBC, it turns out she was beginning a career spanning Australia, California, Chile and Argentina.
But B.C. wine is what she’s passionate about. Now as the winemaker at Laughing Stock Vineyards in Naramata, Leier faces the challenge of navigating the “drastically different” seasonal conditions that are changing the way winemakers grow grapes.
“It’s an interesting time for Okanagan wine,” shares Leier. “The next chapter is about finding the grape varieties that can thrive in these conditions, developing our viticulture and winemaking techniques and making our current varieties more resilient.”
Beyond winemaking, Leier sees leadership and mentorship as vital to the future of the Okanagan wine industry. “I really want to help to get more women into winemaking in the Okanagan and be a support to them in continuing to build up our region,” she says.
Pénélope Roche – Roche Wines | Penticton
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Coming from six generations of winemaking in Bordeaux, France, Pénélope Roche wanted to build a vineyard from scratch. When she found the Okanagan, it felt “like possibility,” she says.
“After working in established regions where rules, reputations and expectations are already defined, I wanted a place where the story wasn’t finished yet.”
Roche says that her early experiences of the Okanagan reminded her of Bordeaux decades ago. “It’s agricultural and humble… it felt like a place where you could listen to the land and help shape the identity instead of inheriting one,” she says.
As the owners of Roche Wines, Pénélope and her husband, Dylan, deeply value the pace of organic farming—and the ways in which it makes you slow down and think long-term. At the same time, climate unpredictability has made adaptability essential. “Every vintage feels like a negotiation,” she says. “Frost, smoke and heat domes force you to adapt quickly, so creativity becomes survival.”
Roche believes that wine regions are built collectively. “If, in 20 years, people say, ‘This tastes like the Naramata Bench,’ and we helped define that taste even a little, that would mean everything,” she says.
