Insight
Corporate partnerships proved too politically constrained to drive wine industry diversity
“If we were going to bridge this gender gap that happens in the wine industry, and Make the wine industry more inclusive, then we had to do that by ourselves. Because politically, within these strategic partnerships, it was just too difficult.”
Opinion
Andréa McBride John argues the wine industry historically ignored Black consumers
“And most importantly, I think, unfortunately, the wine industry has just really ignored black people when it comes to wine.”
Insight
Winemakers lose most control of the outcome once grape fermentation begins
“Once you harvest, once you pick, once the fermentation process starts, you really don't have a lot of control.”
Opinion
McBride Sisters uniquely produces its wine across two different global hemispheres
“And I feel like, you know, really quickly, at the time, we felt like we could do something that no other winery in the world could do. And that was that we could authentically make wine in two different hemispheres.”
Assertion Supported
Andréa McBride John notes wine ownership and distribution are dominated by men
“When you think about the wine business on the winemaking side, on the ownership side, even within the higher ranks of distributors, it's mostly older men.”
Assertion Contradicted
The wine industry categorizes any bottle priced over $13 as premium
“In the wine industry premium, I know it's a little bit, like, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but premium is anything that's over 13 dollars a bottle.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
A diversity director's introductions landed McBride Sisters at Target, Disney, and Kroger
“And, like, the next day, he sent out emails to Target, to Disney, to all the major, like, Kroger, all the major Fortune, you know, companies in America, like, getting us a seat at the table.”
Insight
Economic recessions shift wine consumption away from restaurants and toward home drinking
“It is, I don't want to say it's recession-proof because the channels in which you operate definitely play into when a recession hits, for sure, when it comes to the wine industry, but I would say for the most part you see that consumption lessens out in, in re…”
Assertion Partly supported
Ninety percent of the 10,000 US wineries produce under 5,000 cases annually
“90, 90% of the, like, 10,000 wineries in the United States make less than 5000 cases a year.”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
McBride Sisters Collection became Kroger's top new wine brand in 2017
“So, in terms of being a new brand, like, into their stores, we were the number one new brand in their stores, you know, at the end of 20 17.”
Disclosure
The McBride Sisters require family members to work elsewhere before joining them
“If you want to join the family business, that's contingent on, you need to go out and work somewhere else and identify, avoid, avoid, That we have that we don't do well, and then come back and interview for a position and come and fill that void and make the c…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
A new digital strategy grew weekly e-commerce revenue from $5,000 to $30,000
“From the first week, But the plan was in place. She took, you know, that revenue from 5000 to, like, 30,000, and I was like, wow, I was like, whoa, hold on.”
Disclosure
The founders plan a physical winery to train diverse wine industry entrepreneurs
“Yeah, and also a training place as well. So if you're a woman, if you're a person of color that's interested in the grape growing winemaking or on the ownership side of the wine industry, this would be a place where you can come and feel welcome.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McBride Sisters used $1,500 life savings to buy a federal wine license
“A federal importer's license that was like 1500 dollars. It was like our total life savings, and we could import other people's wines”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McBride Sisters launched their import business with an order of 54 cases
“It was, ah, a pallet, which is, like, 54 cases, which is, like, the minimum of what you can, like, put on a boat, you know but for us, that was just, An insane, and in a case of wine, there's 12 bottles”
Disclosure
It took the McBride sisters six months to sell their first pallet
“I think it took us, ah, about six months.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
The sisters' father and extended family worked as sharecroppers in Alabama
“Our grandparents, our aunties and uncles, our father picked cotton. They're sharecroppers”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
New Zealand's Marlborough wine region has zero remaining plantable vineyard land
“Now you fly into Marlborough, and it's just vineyard. There's no more plant. There's no more plantable area.”
