Sisters Who (Make) Wine: Truvee Wine & the McBride Sisters
I always love a good story, so it should be no surprise that I would naturally gravitate towards the story of the McBride sisters and their Truvee Wine. Thanks to my partnership with Diageo Brands, I had the chance to interview these remarkable sisters.
In case you aren’t familiar with the McBride sisters, they were raised an entire world apart, sharing a father they were unaware of each others existence until they were adults. (Source: Centric Tv.com) Like a modern day Parent Trap, sans the plot to reunite any parents, these ladies would come together to create something even bigger as the first African-American sister to start a wine company. In 2008 they would launch eco.love wines, and just this year they would launch Truvee Wines.
A quick glance over of their website tells us that sustainability is important to them:
When you are involved in agriculture you must believe in sustainable practices. It’s not just about doing the right thing, it integrates the environmental, social and economic structure and, just as importantly, contributes to better quality.
We and all of our partners are actively doing our part to minimize Climate Change: water management, soil health, and further integration of sustainable practices are all components of learning how to farm using new ideologies and processes in a changing environment.
And that they are committed to being better global citizens:
We are always challenging ourselves to be better business owners. This is why we are committed to giving back to our local and global communities in an effort to make a positive difference in a world that we can all be proud of.
Starting in 2015, the McBride Sisters will support in-kind to organizations who are making a positive difference in the world, with a focus on family and the environment.
But I had the chance to speak with them specifically about their wines, and it was an eye opening conversation.
Robin & Andrea McBride: We are known in the wine industry as the McBride Sisters, we actually grew up thinking we were only children, we didn’t know about each other. And we met for the first time in 1999, which was a very amazing experience.
Andrea grew up in New Zealand, and Robin in California, in wine making regions of each.
Andrea: Both of these regions are new world wine regions, and we shared these dreams that we each had as little girls of wanting to make wine. It was very serendipitous circumstances in how we were able to connect and meet. And so we kind of felt like the world brought us together and that together that we could, you know, do anything we wanted. So we took these dreams that we had of making wine and we’ve been in the business for ten years now.
Andrea: Truvee is based out of the Central coast of California and we officially launched that in 2015.
Molly: Yeah! I saw something on your website that this was in February, so this is a really new product. Tell me how many different wines are you doing?
Andrea: We launched with two base wines. We have the Central Coast Red Blend, which is predominantly Grenache and Syrah in the blend. And then we also have our Chardonnay, which is a light oak from the Central Coast.
Molly: Ok, I think most people, if they are wine drinkers are likely familiar with what a Chardonnay is like- but tell us more about that red? That sounds really interesting. I’m familiar with Syrah, but I’m not familiar with the other.
Andrea: Well, just to talk about that in a sec but I want to say our Chardonnays are actually a little bit different-
Molly: Oh! Ok!
Andrea: That what the typical California Chardonnays people are used to are like. We wanted to showcase the fruit of the Chardonnay. A lot of the Chardonnays are made with a lot of oak treatment, so you get a lot of the – the really oaky, butter flavor. It’s a much heavier wine. The grapes that we use are mostly from the Southern part of the Central Coast- Edna Valley- which is a beautiful grape. And the wines that are made from these grapes show delicious flavors of tropical fruit and have a great acidity. We wanted to take the approach of more of an old world style. European, and not cover them up.
So we used about 20 percent French oak treatment, so it’s a much lighter, crisp Chardonnay. People who like Chardonnay who try ours are pleasantly surprised at how light and refreshing it is.
Molly: I like to drink white wine when, um, it’s one of those wines I can have when I’m having dinner or not. It’s very refreshing. Red wine for me tends to be, well, one of those things I have to be more… strategic almost? I want to make sure I have it with a steak or a burger, because it hits me a little harder. So it’s fun to see pairings and that type of stuff. Really with both- but I’m curious about this red?
Andrea: So, the red wine actually has 4 varietals. The two main varietals are Grenache and Syrah. Grenache provides these really juicy fruit flavors: raspberry, cherry, pomegranate. The Syrah in this one gives the Grenache more structure and provides the black fruit flavors, like blackberry, blueberry. And then we used just a little bit of Merlot just to round it out and soften it. And then just a touch of Zinfandel to add spice to the wine. It’s another layer of complexity and nuance.
Molly: So- who would you say is your typical wine drinker? And what should they pair either of these with?
Andrea: I would say we’re woman winemakers (laughing a touch) so we’re, typically women gravitate towards us. We don’t want to exclude the fellows! We just tend to have a softer touch in how we make our wines, very elegant and balance. In terms of paring, the Chardonnay I think- just because of the season- would go beautifully with seared scallops.
Molly: Ooooo that sounds really good.
Andrea: And then the red, because it’s a medium bodied wine, it’s also really versatile. So for us we really love roast. A barbecue roast. But also you could grill some vegetables and it would be really good with that.
Molly: That’s a really good idea to pair the vegetables with the red! And that’s probably why I have to be careful with reds, because I tend to drink heavier ones. So tell me what can audiences find on your blog if they want to keep up with what your doing?
Andrea: We actually just launched the Truvee Wines .com website and we do have some recipes we’re going to be putting up at the end of May. And then there’s also a store locator where you can pop in your zip code and find the closest restaurant or store with Truvee wine.
Molly: I’ll just ask one more question: where do you see your company heading?
Andrea: We see ourselves as the next generation wine company, so we hope to continue to grow our businesses and extend our range of wines. And continue to make really great wines at an affordable price and that we can help people continue to explore wine and experiment in wine. And to learn as much as they can.
Molly: And then of course, as a consumer, we’re helping a relatively new set of female wine entrepreneurs. It doesn’t seem like there’s many women in the business.
Andrea: Thanks so much!
Molly: Thank you! It’s so nice to speak with y’all.
We’ve even got a recipe for the Truvee White Wine Sangria:
Truvée White Wine Sangria
Serves 12
1 750 ml bottle of Truvée Chardonnay
6 oz. Ketel One Citroen
6 oz. elderflower liqueur
6 oz. Stellina di Notte Prosecco
Garnish:
Raspberries
Peaches
Origin:
Continents apart, Andréa and Robin McBride grew up among vineyards —each independently fostering her own appreciation for the craft of winemaking, unaware of the other for nearly half of their lives. However, despite the 7,000 miles that separated them, these sisters would eventually find their way to one another.
Their compelling story—proof of the bond that can form over a bottle of wine—is now being told through Truvée. Fittingly derived from the French verb “to find,” each bottle of Truvée is a reflection of one shared vision that grew out of two individual stories.
