By Rick Riozza
Everyone loves a good story. We wine enthusiasts, when becoming aware of a fine wine chronicle, will readily and happily open up a bottle or two and share the tale with those of a kindred spirit.
A few months ago while I was wine stewarding, a distributor came in the market and asked me if I had heard about Truvée wines. It just so happened (as these things seem to do in this column) that both a case of Truvée Chardonnay and its sister case of Red Blend had arrived a few days earlier. And, as it turned out, I even had placed a few of these bottles on the shelves, totally unaware of the sisterhood story that was awaiting me.
The wine distributor went on to tell me that the Truvée wine producers were in fact sisters who did not know of each other’s existence for over half their lives but had serendipitously gone into the wine trade only to meet up as a dying wish from their father. I told the wine distributor, “Now that’s a wine story to write about!” I was definitely intrigued, asked for some samples to taste, and, went on the internet to put together what I could find out about these girls—as told by them and others.
So gather ‘round the wine bar and drink up this story:
Although both girls were born in Los Angeles—9 years apart—they were raised by different mothers, each growing up in two different but famous wine regions in the world: the elder sister Robin was raised in Monterey, California around coastal tide pools, forests and vineyards, while Andréa was raised in her mother’s native country of New Zealand, where she learned firsthand the art of grape farming from her uncle in Marlborough.
“We didn’t know each other growing up,” says the elder Robin McBride. “We lived on different continents. We are half-sisters with the same father and two different moms. Our dad was a rolling stone. Both of our moms had passionate and fiery relationships with him. Both of us were growing up thinking we were only children– completely, you know, opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean.”
The story of their journey starts with their shared biological father, Kelly McBride. Their father wasn’t around for most of their lives, but before he died of stomach cancer in 1996, he asked his family to try and connect the two girls.
Their paternal uncle located Robin’s whereabouts and sent her a letter. The younger, Andréa, grew up in New Zealand with her mother, Pauline, until she died of breast cancer and was placed with a foster family at the age of 6.
Their paternal uncle and aunt located Robin’s whereabouts and sent her a letter. “She wrote on the letter ‘I’m your aunt, and I’m sorry to tell you that your dad has passed away, but you have a little sister,'” Robin said, “it was very shocking.”
The sisters were united for the first time in 1999 at the ages of 16 and 25. “I remember being just so excited. You know, I was 16, and I have a big sister,” Andréa said. The sisters met in New York’s LaGuardia Airport one day after Robin received the letter. As they approached each other, it’s easy to see why the sisters thought they were looking in a mirror.
Both are statuesque, with the 6-foot-1-inch Andrea, a former USC volleyball and track and field star who studied international business, edging her sister, who worked in electronics marketing, in height by 4 inches. They both have the same golden caramel complexion and corkscrew curls. They can finish each other’s sentences, but try very hard not to.
As the two got to know one another, they discovered a shared passion for making wine, something they each developed growing up in their part of the world.
After the above-reported introduction, their website tells us, “the two sisters immediately found common ground in their admiration for wine, food and entertaining. Combining their 10 years of industry experience, the two embarked on a winemaking journey together, launching their own négociant winemaking business.”
Truvée Wines (pronounced “True-Vay) is “fittingly derived from the French verb “Trouver” which means ‘to find’”. (Of course for my French students—you well know that “truvée” is the feminine past-participle, meaning “found”).
“Truvée embodies the spirit of our story, while naturally reflecting our signature winemaking style. We’ve created a high-quality wine that is approachable and sophisticated,” said Robin McBride. “Truvée stylistically combines old world and new world winemaking philosophies to bring affordable luxury to contemporary wine drinkers, and creates the foundation for our wine company. Their Central Coast wines, a Chardonnay and Red Blend, are sure to please discerning palates.
The website continues, “Only the best grapes were sourced from Central Coast California vineyards within the Chalone, Monterey, Edna Valley, San Benito and Paso Robles American Viticultural Areas (AVA). Velvety and full-bodied, the Truvée Red Blend is rich with dominant notes of blueberry, blackberry, caramel, cocoa and red cherry, creating a smooth and decadent flavor; while the Truvée Chardonnay exhibits a complex and lavish taste with hints of citrus, pear, honeysuckle, green apple and pineapple integrated into a clean, crisp finish.”
Personally speaking, the Chardonnay tastes very fruit fresh with a particular flavor of that solid clear Mexican candy along with its quick bitter nuance. The Red Blend is indeed a flavorful red with some complex black cherry that can match a meal of substance. A delicious red blend for the holidays! Both wines are a very good deal at $15.
Here’s to a good story! Cheers!
