The Truth About Nina Dobrev And Julianne Hough's Wine Company Fresh Vine

Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough's wine company, Fresh Vine Wines, is in pretty good company. The celebrity founders, including actress Dobrev, famous for her role on "The Vampire Diaries," and actress, singer, and dancer Hough, best known for her role on "Dancing With the Stars," teamed up with professional winemaker Jamey Whetstone to form the Napa Valley-based wine company that centers on creating wines that are healthy and holistic (via Beverage Industry).

Currently, Fresh Vine's collection includes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and rosé, and the winemakers hope to add Pinot Grigio to the list in 2022 (via Fresh Vine's website).

The wines are inspired by the pair's friendship and their bond over and shared enthusiasm for a rich, active, and healthy lifestyle. They aim to create "premium, delicious tasting wines that evoke a guilt-free experience that you can be proud to enjoy on any adventure or at any table" (via Fresh Vine's website).

Dobrev and Hough don't just market themselves as friends for the benefit of their wine business; they actually are best friends in real life. According to Daily Mail, the pair has been pals for eight years after being introduced by hairstylist Riawna Capri, who was a mutual friend of the future business partners.

"Both Julianne and I were going through life crises at the time and we were using that mutual friend as a free therapist, kind of," Dobrev told Drew Barrymore during an interview on "The Drew Barrymore Show." "And it got to a degree where she was so sick of hearing about our problems that were very similar, she was like, okay, I'm going to put you guys together and you can use each other for therapy and I can remove myself. I feel like you'll be best friends. She just knew, and she was right" (posted on YouTube).

Eight years later and the two are still having slumber parties (or so they told Barrymore). "Girlfriends ... are the consistent thing in your life, and Nina has definitely been that rock for me," said Hough during the segment.

To Dobrev, it seems like the pair has been friends forever. "It feels like we met when we were two years old, because I feel like I have known you my whole life," she told People. "We are goofy, we like to laugh, we like to play without dogs and hang out and watch movies and get ready together and go places together. We just like to be around each other."

When Dobrev and Hough founded Fresh Vine, they had a goal of creating low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, low-sugar wines that didn't skimp on taste (via Beverage Industry). "We're health fanatics, so we want to have a holistic approach to everything that we do and so we did see a gap in the market where we were like, 'Wow, people are trying to do healthy wine, but it tastes like (makes an unattractive noise), so how do we give that same luxury, premium experience?'" said Hough (via "The Drew Barrymore Show," posted on YouTube).

In fact, Fresh Vine's blends are all gluten free, vegan with no animal by-products, and low in sulfites (via Fresh Vine's website). The wines are also certified by ETS Laboratories, an independent beverage analysis company, to ensure its quality (via Wine Spectator).

Dobrev reports that she is gluten sensitive and wanted to create a wine that everyone, including she, could enjoy. "Selfishly, I wanted to blow this out of the park so they have it everywhere and there are options to drink when I go places to socialize with my friends, family, and loved ones" (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Dobrev told Barrymore that drinking their wine is "a guilt free experience because we really believe in having a wonderful life and enjoying life and also being healthy and having the holistic approach to life" (via YouTube).

While Fresh Vine's wine collection currently includes a 2018 Pinot Noir, a 2018 Chardonnay, and a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, it's perhaps the newest wine, a 2020 rosé, that takes the cake as the ladies' favorite. "Jules and I both love, love rosé," Dobrev told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's the first thing my hand reaches for in the summer because you want something refreshing, light, and airy."

The pair describes their rosé as crisp, smooth, and citrusy, with notes of lemon and heavy on the grapefruit. Hough says the wine has a "smooth aftertaste" that "feels very balanced" (via The Hollywood Reporter).

The blend of Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir grapes was aged in stainless steel, lending to a rosé wine that offers aromas of white peaches and rose petals and tastes of nectarines, stone fruit, and melon. One five ounce glass contains only 98 calories, with 0.1 gram of sugar (via Fresh Vines' website).

Early on in their friendship, in 2013, Hough introduced Dobrev to her brother, Derek, and to say sparks flew would be subtle. "Derek is smitten with Nina," an insider told US Weekly. "He said he hasn't felt this way for a girl in a long time."

The romance may have come on hot and heavy, but it didn't last. Just one week after going public with their relationship (via PopSugar), and within six weeks of starting to date, the relationship had fizzled, having, as US Weekly reported, "played itself out." The publication blamed distance for the break-up, as Derek was busy filming "Dancing With the Stars" in Los Angeles while Dobrev was filming "The Vampire Diaries" in Atlanta. E! News reported that the couple was only ever publicly photographed together once while dating. According to The List, Dobrev was asked to perform on "Dancing With the Stars" alongside Derek, but the offer never "materialized."

Luckily, there were no hard feelings when it came to Dobrev's friendship with Derek's sister. "Julianne understands," a source told US Weekly.

Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough were teamed up with renowned winemaker Jamey Whetstone, learning about wine, and busy creating the next wine empire when the pandemic hit. But the coronavirus didn't stop the two from enjoying each other's friendship, or for that matter, enjoying wine.

"In early pandemic days, before we could see each other, we would do little Zoom dates ... and we would stay connected in that way. And then once it was safe to be in a bubble, we would bring the wine in person, and we just really connected over that and connected over going through this together," Dobrev said during their "Drew Barrymore Show" segment (posted on YouTube).

Hough told Architectural Digest that it was hanging out and drinking wine with Dobrev that helped ease the socially isolating effects the pandemic had on her. "Covid tests ... allowed us to have socially distant backyard hangs where we could put the fire on and reflect on what was happening in the world. That was really enjoyable, to be able to have a friend during a hard time and share that over a glass of wine."