SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 24, 2025--
McBride Sisters Wine Company, the largest Black-owned and women-founded wine company in the United States, announced today a series of initiatives to position the company for growth. These initiatives include immediate implementation of a stronger supply chain, and a restructuring of the executive leadership team.
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Owners and Founders Andrea McBride John and Robin McBride
New Appointments
The company has restructured its executive leadership, including the appointment of a new Vice President of Sales and a Vice President of Marketing.
The company has named Art Moreno as the Vice President of Sales. Art most recently served as SVP of Sales at IBG Wine and Spirits and VP of Retail National Accounts at Palm Bay International. Moreno, a seasoned sales leader with a passion for growing consumer-centric wine brands, will play a key role in expanding the company’s growth and points of distribution. The company has named Hilary Butler as its new Vice President of Marketing. Hilary most recently served as Sr. Director of Marketing at Bonterra Organic Estates, where she led the company's fastest-growing segment in the U.S. Market. Butler, a seasoned marketing leader with a passion for innovation and impact, will play a key role in expanding the company’s impact and elevating its brand presence.
Despite challenges in the broader wine market, the McBride Sisters Collection and Black Girl Magic wine brands experienced growth in the On-Premise sector in 2024. This success, coupled with innovative marketing partnerships like a recent campaign with oral care giant Colgate Optic White - generating over 500 million impressions - highlights the brands' ability to resonate with new wine drinkers and one of the fastest-growing demographics in the U.S.
“Today’s announcement will ensure we have the structure and teams in place to continue on this path to drive growth consumer segments, while also making exciting investments that we believe will lay the groundwork for years to come,” notes founder and owner Robin McBride.
“At McBride we possess unique expertise in understanding what new wine consumers desire from their wine experience. This insight is deeply embedded in our DNA. I’m excited to see Art and Hilary continue to build and grow these brands,” says founder and owner Andréa McBride John.
Supply Chain Efficiencies
In addition to being responsible for leading the national sales team and route-to-market strategy across all channels, Art Moreno will play a pivotal role focused on improving the company's inventory position, driving supply chain efficiencies, and growing outlets of distribution - allowing McBride to become a more efficient and agile organization. “We see great opportunities ahead of us with incredible varietals from both New Zealand and the Central Coast of California, including in route to market with our established national partnership with Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, and believe that we have the ingredients in place for this next chapter of the company’s growth and success,” says Moreno.
Steve Cohen, EVP - Supplier Development & Marketing, Southern Glazer’s Wine Spirits, agrees. “McBride Sisters Wine Company has a strong portfolio of brands that champion growth segments, inspire change and uplift communities. They serve a broad spectrum of wine drinkers and also bring new consumers to the wine category. We are thrilled to play a role in supporting McBride Sisters ongoing growth and success as we look for continued innovation that excites wine consumers and invigorates wine business in the U.S.”
About McBride Sisters Wine Company
Founded by Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John, McBride Sisters Wine Company is the largest Black-owned and women-founded wine company in the U.S., renowned for its award-winning wines. With a mission to transform the wine industry, lead by example and cultivate community, one delicious glass of wine at a time, the company is redefining the wine experience for diverse and dynamic audiences. Their portfolio includes celebrated brands such as McBride Sisters Collection, Black Girl Magic, She Can Wines, and Whiny Baby Wines.
Visit www.mcbridesisters.com for more information.
Enjoy Responsibly. © 2025 McBride Sisters Wine Company, San Luis Obispo, CA
[Forward-Looking Statements]
This press release contains statements that are “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect management’s expectations or projections regarding future events and speak only as of the date we make them. Except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors (many beyond our control) that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our historical experience or from our current expectations or projections.
Vice President, Marketing - Hilary Butler
Vice President - Sales, Art Moreno
Greenland and Denmark appeared cautiously relieved early Wednesday by the news that U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife are changing their itinerary for their visit to Greenland Friday, reducing the likelihood that they will cross paths with residents angered by the Trump administration’s attempts to annex the vast Arctic island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The couple will now visit the U.S. Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, instead of Usha Vance’s previously announced solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut.
President Donald Trump irked much of Europe by suggesting that the United States should in some form control the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of Denmark, a U.S. ally and NATO member. As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources.
Trump, in an interview Wednesday on “The Vince Show,” repeated his desire for U.S. control of Greenland. Asked if the people there are “eager” to become U.S. citizens, Trump said he didn’t know “but I think we have to do it, and we have to convince them.”
The vice president’s decision to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland has removed the risk of violating potential diplomatic taboos by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation. Yet Vance has also criticized long-standing European allies for relying on military support from the United States, openly antagonizing partners in ways that have generated concerns about the reliability of the U.S.
During his first term, Trump floated the idea of purchasing the world’s largest island, even as Denmark insisted it wasn’t for sale. The people of Greenland also have firmly rejected Trump’s plans.
Anne Merrild, a Greenlander and an expert on Arctic politics and development, said recent anti-U.S. demonstrations in Nuuk might have scared the Trump administration enough to revise the trip to avoid interactions with angry Greenlanders.
Still, Merrild said, even a visit to the space base shows that the U.S. administration still considers annexing Greenland to be on the table.
“It's a signal to the whole world, it's a strong signal to Denmark, it's a signal to Greenland,” she said. “And of course it's also an internal signal to the U.S., that this is something that we're pursuing.”
Vance is allowed to visit the base, said Marc Jacobsen, a professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, because of a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the U.S. regarding the defense of Greenland.
Jacobsen said the timing is controversial, particularly because coalition negotiations are ongoing to form a government after the election earlier this month.
Ahead of the vice president’s announcement that he would join his wife, discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark had been growing sharper, with the Greenland government posting on Facebook Monday night that it had “not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish national broadcasts Tuesday that the visit was “unacceptable pressure."
Peter Viggo Jakobsen, associate professor at the Danish Defense Academy, said the trip’s flip-flop continues to cause major confusion on the island. The U.S. has not articulated specific demands from Greenland or Denmark at this point.
“We have no idea what the end game is," Jakobsen said.
In Greenland, the political group the most sympathetic to the U.S. president, the Naleraq party that advocates a swift path toward independence, has now been excluded from coalition talks to form the next government. The Trump administration's aspirations for Greenland could backfire and push the more mild parties closer to Denmark.
“But now Trump has scared most Greenlanders away from this idea about a close relationship to the United States because they don’t trust him,” Jakobsen added.
One of the biggest remaining hurdles to Greenland's independence is diversifying the economy, where fishing accounts for 90% of exports. In the meantime, Greenland receives an annual block grant from Denmark of around 3.5 billion kronen ($506 million), which is more than half the public budget, to cover the island’s Nordic-style social programs, including free health care.
It’s therefore better for Greenland, strategically, to threaten Denmark with independence and a referendum than actually do it, Jakobsen said. As long as the threat is there, Greenland can push for more concessions and more money from Denmark.
If the island pins all its hopes on the U.S., Greenlanders have no guarantee they will be better off or have any power in a future relationship with America, he said.
“In that sense, Trump is the Danish realm's best friend at the moment,” Jakobsen added.
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Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.
Military vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen of the Royal Danish Navy patrols near Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boy throws ice into the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Passengers walk on a pier after arriving in Kapisillit village in Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Passengers ride on a boat outside of Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
FILE - Vice President JD Vance leaves after speaking at the Congressional Cities Conference of the National League of Cities on Monday, March 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)
