McBride Sisters: Wines’ founders, Robin and Andréa McBride, are the first African-American sister tandem to start and run a winery.
For more than 13 years, the McBride sisters have been able to build a unique wine experience for their customers based on their core principles of sustainability, empowerment, creativity, and community.
The McBride sisters exhibit the spirit of entrepreneurship via their passion and resolve to fulfil their father’s last request, for them to be reunited again, despite their geographical separation.
The sisters were raised on opposite ends of the world, in New Zealand and Monterey, California, and both developed a distinct respect for the art of winemaking.
The sisters grew up without knowing one other because they had separate moms but the same father.
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After meeting in 1999, the sisters’ interest in wine grew into a true passion, and they started a wine import company, bringing distinctive New Zealand wines to the US market.
Eco.love Wines, a sustainable wine brand based in New Zealand, was the first product of this endeavour.
They founded the McBride Sisters Wine Company in 2010, breaking the pattern of the male-dominated and predominantly white wine industry and became the first African American Sisters to do so.
Always on the cutting edge, the sisters teamed up with Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines to produce Truvée Wines, a range of perfectly balanced wines that capture the unique character of California’s central coast.
With their third collection, The McBride Sisters Collection, the sisters have strived to deliver wine consumers the best of both worlds, more than 13 years after their entrepreneurial start in the wine market.
The Collection comprises of four wines produced in the McBride Sisters’ unique style, a blend of old world grace and new world delicacy, and will be available in more than 1,500 retail locations across the country.
Two wines are from New Zealand, the Sauvignon Blanc and Sparkling Brut Rosé, and two are from California’s Central Coast, the crisp Chardonnay and Red Blend, as well as their limited-edition Black Girl Magic California Riesling.
I asked the sisters about their passion for wine, their experiences as African-American female vintners, and their plans for McBride Sisters Wine.
Dominique Fluker (Fluker): After being separated by continents and finally reuniting in 1999, how did you both discover your love of wine?
Sisters McBride: We reunited in 1999, and it quickly became evident that, despite having grown up on different sides of the globe, we shared a passion for wine and were deeply connected to the wine areas in which we grew up.
We were certain that we were destined to achieve something in the wine industry together, and within a few years, we had established our first wine firm as importers, which led to the bottling of our first wines in 2010.
Fluker: Share your experience crafting your mission statement for McBride Sisters wine as the first African-American sisters to operate a wine company.
Sisters McBride: Wine and the wine industry have traditionally been a white man’s domain, but that is rapidly changing. We encourage wine drinkers to think beyond the box when it comes to wine.
It’s much more than a grey winemaker…an it’s experience, not just a beverage. I
t’s how you feel as you prepare to taste the wine…what you see, smell, and hear.
Our goal is to create the ideal wine experience for you.
Fluker: How do the environments in which you both grew up, Monterey, California, and New Zealand, affect the McBride Sisters’ distinct style of wine?
Sisters McBride: We want to make wines that are both approachable and representative of the areas where we grew up. Our signature style is described as “old world style with modern world elegance.”
Both places are naturally attractive and environmental leaders, so we place a premium on sustainable agricultural and winemaking processes. Wine is made from excellent grapes.
Fluker: As two African-American female vintners, tell us about your experiences.
What have been the most difficult and rewarding aspects of running your own wine distribution business?
Women make up a small percentage of the wine industry, and women of colour are even fewer. McBride Sisters: We are frequently confronted with suspicion and, as a result, a lack of credibility.
To be successful in this business, you must have an acute case of optimism and a thick skin. We’ve been owners, creators, and innovators for fourteen years, so the proof is in the bottle!
Knowing how hard we’ve worked and sacrificed to get here, as well as witnessing the happiness on someone’s face when they first taste the wine, are the most satisfying parts.
Fluker: How are you both collaborating to keep McBride Sisters wine fresh, original, and unique after more than a decade in the wine business?
Sisters McBride: The most important thing to us is to stay in touch with wine enthusiasts, to observe how and where they enjoy wine, what their experience is like, and what if anything is missing so we may improve it for them.
We are there wherever our customers are, and it is critical that we never become separated from their experience.
Fluker: Which of the McBride Sisters’ wines is your favourite, and why?
Sisters McBride: You can’t choose between your kids! On most days, though, Andrea will be sipping the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Robin will be sipping the Central Coast Red Blend, both of which are fantastic representations of our hometowns.
McBride Sisters also provides Black Girl Magic Wine Clubs, according to Fluker. Explain why you decided to create the Black Girl Magic collection.
McBride Sisters: Black Girl Magic was inspired by and developed to honour incredible women.
This wine is not about the McBride Sisters, but rather a thank you for all of the love and inspiration we’ve received over the years from so many incredible women.
Black girl magic, in our opinion, is that drive, the creativity, resilience, and ingenuity that shines brilliantly.
This bottle is an homage to the essence.
Fluker: What do you see for McBride Sisters wine in the next three to five years?
Sisters McBride: Over the next year, we’ll be making a LOT of announcements! With some new collaborations, we’re continuing to extend where our wines may be found and enjoyed across the country.
For the first time, we’ll be building a public tasting room and releasing limited-edition reserve wines over the next few years.
