In the early 20th century, prohibition in Canada wiped out many of the Okanagan's earliest wineries and the commercial wine industry in the area was not revived until the 1930s.

Several small vineyards, planted mostly with Vitis labrusca operated until prohibition in the United States in the 1920s encouraged the uprooting and replanting with other agricultural crops.

[6] Eventually the use of French-American hybrid grapes, such as Marechal Foch and Vidal blanc took hold, led by the Stewarts of Quails' Gate Estate Winery.

The Osoyoos Indian band established the first commercial vineyard dedicated to vinifera varieties with plantings of Riesling, Ehrenfelser and Scheurebe.

[8] In June 2010, several vineyards in the southern Okanagan near Oliver were devastated by a dam failure that released 20,000 cubic metres (710,000 cu ft) of water down Testalinda Creek, triggering a mudslide with a 180-metre (590 ft) wide swath of debris that extended over kilometres of vineyards and shut down the major roadway through the area.

[3] Additionally many German varieties are still found throughout the Okanagan including Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Bacchus, Optima, Ehrenfelser, Kerner, Siegerebe.

The Cascade and Coast Mountains create a rain shadow effect shared by adjoining areas of Eastern Washington.