John Ferreira
Owner
Owning a winery had always been a life long dream of John’s and when the
opportunity for he and his wife Maria came in 2007 there was no hesitation.
Moving to Canada in the early 1960’s with his family had John being raised in
Oliver and growing up on a fruit orchard. Having spent over 20 years owning a
fruit orchard came the time for John to replant old fruit trees or take the
opportunity and plant grapes, a decision he says was one of his smartest. John
is the humour of the winery and wineshop, the comedian in him shines when he
spends time with our guests sharing stories and creating memories for Quinta
Ferreira visitors, John wants everyone to leave the winery having enjoyed
themselves and with a new story each time they come back to the wineshop.
Maria Ferreira
Owner
Along with husband John owning a winery was always a dream that Maria
hoped would be one day a reality. Maria also moved to the Okanagan as a
young child with her family in the 1960’s. Working on an orchard was also part
of growing up in Maria’s family. Maria loves the wine industry and is passionate
about seeing the talents of her family shine through in this family business. She
can be find in the tasting room when she is on-site and coordinates the Quinta
Ferreira wine club, online sales and event execution for all on-site events. She
enjoys welcoming guests to the winery and hearing the story of each guest
and loves that her winery gets to be part of the experience of the wine culture
of the Okanagan for each person that visits.
Christina Ferreira
Marketing & Communications
Take 17 years of event planning, marketing and promotions in the BC Wine
Tourism Industry and a marketing degree behind her and we’ve got Christina’s
knowledge for where to take Quinta Ferreira. Fuelled by her passion for BC Wine,
BC Food and Tourism makes marketing the Quinta Ferreira brand and introducing
new events to the winery feel like a hobby.
Christina is also the principal of Impact Events; a full service marketing, public
relations and conference and event management company based in the
Okanagan. With a diverse and impressive client list, Christina has managed
and organized corporate and community events in the wine tourism industry
throughout the Okanagan Valley. She has worked with leaders in business and
industry as well as private, small business, and non-profit groups.
Nicole Ferreira
Sales & Marketing (Lower Mainland)
Nicole has spent her days for the last 16 years as an accountant in many
different business sectors. With the analytical side of her brain covered, she
always looks for opportunities to put her creativity to use. When provided
with an opportunity to be part of a family venture that is fun and different,
the decision was easy. Nicole’s passion for wine has her representing the
Quinta Ferreira brand the last few years, and she’s always excited to meet new
people and let them get a taste of passion of her family. When Nicole is not
either crunching numbers or selling wine, she can be found taking care of her
young daughter Maya, reading or writing, watching hockey, traveling, or
finding new or favourite outdoor adventures to embark on.
Michael Ferreira
Winemaker
Nineteen years ago Michael was introduced to the most important side
of owning a winery… being a cellar hand and learning first hand what happens
from the time the grapes are harvested to the time the bottle is released for sale.
Having worked under some of the Okanagan’s most esteemed wine makers
Michael learned through hard work in the cellar just what is needed to create
the liquid in the bottle that we all admire. During the time that Michael was
working in a winery and seeing his passion was when John and Maria took
the plunge to owning their own winery where Michael continues to put his
desire to create wines that everyone will enjoy into each vintage.
Carmen Tome
Resident Artist & Wineshop Sales
“Creating beauty everywhere I go is what I am made for” comments Carmen.
Alongside freelance photography, her passion to paint again arose in recent years
and became more of a focus as time went on. Moving to Oliver in the Spring of
2011 marked a time of returning to her roots and sealed the transition into
painting. Being an artist who has been described as a mad scientist, Carmen enjoys
expressing with a diversity of many mediums as something new emerges in the
flow. Going with the stream of conciousness she creates paintings using mixed
media in any variation of acrylics, oils, coloured pencils, graphite pencils, inks,
pastels and watercolors along with marble dust, gold and silver foils, papier mache,
plasters, portland cement, epoxies, metals, earth colors, stones, and anything else
that captivates her. Carmen is also the smiling face in our tasting room that
welcomes you into Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery all year long.
Duke, Rex, and Daisy
Winery Greeters
Duke and Rex are usually found laying around outside near the wineshop.
Duke is an Akita, and Rex, his son, is an Akita Husky cross. They may be a little
intimidating at first as they are big dogs, but they are big babies. All they are
after is to say hi and maybe get a little scratch on the back, on the ear or a belly
rub. Daisy is the fierce one of the bunch, she is mainly an indoor dog, but every
once in a while she gets to come out to the wineshop. She is a very shy dog,
but if she trusts you to pick her up, she’ll nuzzle right into you.