The McBride Sister’s Collection: One and the Same

This week we are highlighting the McBride Sister’s Collection, a Black-owned wine business, which features wine collections such as Black Girl Magic and She Can. The McBride Sister’s Collection was inspired by the unique story of two half-sisters, Robin and Andrea McBride, who were raised nearly 7,000 miles apart, but each shared an equal passion for wine. For most of their early lives, neither sister knew about the other. Despite being raised on opposite ends of the world, fate would soon bring them together not only as family, but also business partners.

Far before meeting each other in 1999, Robin was living with her mother, Karen, in Monterey, California, while Andrea was raised in Marlborough, New Zealand. Robin’s mother was initially married to their father, Kelly McBride, in Los Angeles, California. However, after their divorce, Robin (who was 3 at the time) and her mother moved up the coast of California to start anew under such difficult circumstances. Unbeknownst to Robin, she would soon have a little sister named Andrea who was born to a native New Zealander only 6 years later. Although Robin and Andrea were both born in Los Angeles, CA, Andrea’s mother, Pauline, took her back to New Zealand and continued to raise Andrea as a single mother until her submission to breast cancer and untimely death, leaving Andrea to be a foster child since the tender age of 6.By the time Robin was 25 years old, she finally learned she had a younger sister across the world; and in 1996, when their father was losing his battle to stomach cancer, he requested that the two sisters finally meet each other. Little did he know that his few words of encouragement would galvanize these two sisters to spark a business venture and future legacy for the McBride last name. When they finally met one another in New York, the McBride sisters quickly learned of their equal passion for winemaking, which can be attributed to the influence of being raised in rural towns situated in two of the most influential scenes in wine production.

The McBride sisters initially entered into the wine industry as vintners. They founded their first company, eco.love Wines, which produces premium sustainable wines in New Zealand that are imported to and sold in California. At eco.love Wines, their core mission was to make classic, eco-friendly wines accessible to everyone. Although they experienced great success, eco.love Wines simply served as a steppingstone to their next and biggest wine venture, The McBride Sister’s Collection, which was founded in 2010. Their initial collection, Truvee Wines, launched in 2015 and consisted of two wines, a Rhone Style Red Blend and Chardonnay, produced on the Central Coast of California. Now, their wine collections, Black Girl Magic and She Can, are inspired by the beauty, strength, and courage of not only Black women, but also all women, and are described to have old-world style with new-world finesse. Their wine collections are produced in both New Zealand and California, spanning from red blends (Merlot, Zinfandel, Malbec & Petite Syrah) to whites (Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc), and even including a brut rosé. You can find their diverse collection of low-cost wines in local stores near you, or you can shop online at their website to purchase one of their bundle packages shipped and sold to you at discounted prices.

Published June 12, 2020 | Chelsea Stephens, CEO
Updated August 6, 2020
Image Credit: The McBride Sisters Collection

Sources: [1] McBride Sister’s Collection; [2] Forbes; [3] Steve Harvey; [4] Cuisine Noir; [5] CBS News; [6] Guest of a Guest [7] eco.love wine; [8[ OPRAH.COM