“When we started [McBride Sisters Collection]we were young, we were women, and we were black women,” says Andréa McBride. “So we didn’t look like what had traditionally been very successful in the wine industry.”
The McBride sisters’ path to business partnership was also non-traditional.
Half-sisters raised as each other’s only children in the world, both grew up in wine regions: Andréa in New Zealand and Robin in Monterrey, California. They bonded with the help of family members in 1999 after their father’s death, and it wasn’t long before they discovered their shared passion for wine and decided to follow it into the business world.
The McBride Sisters Collection was founded in 2005. Nearly 20 years later, the Oakland-based venture has become the largest Black-owned winery in the United States, boasting several wine collections, including Black Girl Magic wines from some of California’s finest wineries.” regions” and She Can wines and spritzes.
Image credit: Courtesy of McBride Sisters Collection
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To get to this point, the sisters have had to be disruptive and agile in an industry that is “at a really interesting crossroads” in terms of reaching a diverse consumer base, the McBrides say. Overall, wine consumption is declining, falling about 6% between 2017 and 2022, according to data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine reported by CNN Business.
“Baby boomers, the primary consumers of wine since they reached drinking age in the 1960s, are in decline today,” explains Andréa McBride, “and if you target that market, you can only grow by struggling to share. “
That’s why the McBrides have always been eager to tap into new consumer bases, particularly college-educated women of color. The gap is narrowing between men and women who drink, and college-educated women across all demographics are more likely to drink and drink more days per month, according to research from Futurity.
“Distributors and retailers hold the most power in our industry and have run this program for brands,” says Andréa McBride, “and the results don’t seem to be working for those who see the value that our portfolio offers in terms of being much more accessible, socially aware, culturally aware.”
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The McBrides note that they’ve also noticed a “stylistic” difference between the types of wines that baby boomers gravitate towards and those that younger consumers prefer: “a trend pattern of lighter wine styles versus big, heavy Cabernet Sauvignon [or] Big, buttery Chardonnay.”
People also drink wine in different ways. “For a lot of time, the wine industry has focused on dining occasions through a very Eurocentric lens,” says Andréa McBride. “But in our scope, the foods we eat are very global, so we just think through that lens.”
The McBride Sisters collection “is incredibly food-friendly” and pairs well with a wide range of cuisines, the cofounders say, adding that “occasions in this generation are not completely focused on the table – [they] it may be, but wine also presents itself in different contexts.”
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The McBrides admit that the wine industry is “not easy”: “We received a lot of resistance because the way we thought and the way we moved and acted was very different.”
But it’s also been “so rewarding” and “so fun” and they encourage other Black founders to “jump in.” Just make sure you find a mentor you can trust and surround yourself with community first.