“The world brought us together. We’re invincible, we can do anything…”
As the story goes, Andrea recalls walking down the jet bridge and thinking she was seeing her reflection in the glass at the end of the hall. While walking toward the glass, she realized it wasn’t her reflection. It was her first time seeing her sister. Robin says she often gets emotional listening to that story because after losing a mother and a father, discovering she had a sister meant so much. Not long after meeting each other, Robin and Andréa discovered they both had a passion for wine. Robin says that while they both grew up in major wine regions in California and New Zealand and had big dreams, they probably wouldn’t have ended up in the industry alone. But since all the stars aligned and the world brought them together, they seemed destined to start a winery together.
“The world brought us together. We’re invincible, we can do anything,” says Robin. That was certainly the attitude that was needed when they opened their company in 2005. Even now, the wine industry is mostly white and male. Back then, it was even more so. But they took on the challenge to transform the industry, leading by example and cultivating the community. With the right mindset and intent, these two fierce and forward-thinking leaders were able to defy tradition and gender, seize opportunities, and build the largest Black-owned wine business in the United States. But it’s not the size of their company that they are most proud of — it’s that they accomplished that feat by focusing on being socially aware, inclusive, accessible, and sustainable.
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