Meet Nicole Hughes and Anne Siegel of Olive and Poppy

Business partners Nicole Hughes and Anne Siegel launched Olive and Poppy with a mission: to bring a modern aesthetic to wine country-inspired accessories.

They wanted to find subtle ways to customize unique items that signify the laid-back vibes of wine country. Some examples include using recycled barrel wood to create a cool, chunky bracelet, or using actual Cabernet to screen print their graphics.

Anne Siegel and Nicole Hughes

One of Olive and Poppy’s most popular creations has been their series of “Cheers” necklaces. Each necklace has the word “cheers” stamped on a vertical, solid brass bar. The packaging for each necklace varies in sentiment (such as friendship, love, the sweet life, and mom) and includes a quote to reinforce the thoughtfulness. The line is currently offering a limited edition “Cheers to the Holidays” necklace ($68), available with festive packaging and a spirited holiday toast.

Olive and Poppy Cheers Necklace

The necklace makes the perfect gift for any champagne-loving foodie. Check out what these two wine lovers had to say about their spirited collection of products.

Tell us about your company.

We founded Olive and Poppy two years ago with the idea that we wanted to create a collection of products that are both symbolic of wine country and contemporary. We found inspiration in the natural elements in wine country, and many of our pieces use materials that are locally sourced and then reimagined into one-of-a-kind pieces. We design things that carry meaning for those who love the relaxed atmosphere of wine country, or just really love a good bottle of wine.

Have you and your business partner always been wine lovers?

We both came from food and wine backgrounds, but bonded over our love of rosé. It’s the one wine you can drink on a sunny Sunday brunch date with friends or with a grilled steak in the middle of winter. We may be singlehandedly keeping the industry alive with our pink addiction… we call it “rosé-ing the day away.”

What are your histories in the world of wine?

We moved to Napa Valley around the same time, about ten years ago. We didn’t know each other then, but we met shortly after while working in PR for the same wine company. We’ve both been extremely lucky with opportunities that have allowed us to travel, meet some truly inspiring winemakers, taste awesome wines from all over the world, and learn through exposure, really. One of the things we love about wine most is that the learning is endless-just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, you realize you’ve barely scratched the surface.

Tell us how wine country inspires your pieces.

Wine country is a magical place. There is inspiration everywhere. It’s a place that many people come to celebrate or mark special moments in their life, so that feeds our inspiration. But then it’s also a place that is deeply rooted in agriculture and farming, and there’s so many inspiring elements in that. The landscape never stops being awe-inspiring-watching it transform from dormant vines to lush, green and grape bearing every year. In fact, the name Olive and Poppy represents two parts of nature that are synonymous with wine countries throughout the world: come spring, there are always thousands of colorful poppies growing alongside the groves of olive trees that line winery driveways.

Olive and Poppy Barrel Collection

What inspired you to use wine country for your customized line?

The wine lifestyle has become part of us. Just as someone living near the beach might feel inexplicably connected to the ocean, we feel the vineyards and warm, hospitable culture is part of us now. Our senses are heightened through the careful attention paid to each smell, taste, and texture in wine. It’s important to us that every detail, from the packaging to actual product, is conscious of these senses and has terroir, a sense of place.

How important is the use of local and natural materials in your pieces?

It’s really the nexus of our company. We don’t want to create things that can be found anywhere. Everything we do has to be significant of wine country, and there’s no better way to do that than by using what’s around us. Our Barrel Wood Collection exemplifies this philosophy by utilizing the interior of wine barrels used to age red wine. We break down the barrels piece by piece, and then craft our bracelets, cufflinks, earrings, rings, and tie bar with the same care put into creating a great wine.

Tell us about your partnership with Paper Planes to benefit Feast it Forward.

Paper Planes is a boutique producer of a single, Russian River Valley rosé, and we became obsessed with their rosé last summer. We plotted a way to work with them, and ended up designing a heavyweight canvas wine tote with rose gold leather handles that carries a bottle of their 2015 Paper Planes’ Rosé. The exterior of the bag reads, “Rosé isn’t an afterthought. It’s our only thought” – Paper Planes’ moniker, and a reference to the fact that rosé is often made as a secondary wine, bled off during red wine production. Not the case with Paper Planes, who specifically source the grapes for their rosé for that wine only, keeping the focus on producing a crisp, vibrant California rosé. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of the tote benefit Feast it Forward, a local Napa Valley network that promotes “products with purpose” and uses funds to support various causes including Cope Family Center, Operation Paws for Homes, and Becky’s Fund.

Tell us about any of your other latest pieces?

We’ve recently added rings to our collection of jewelry. Our Barrel Ring is a real statement ring that includes a hexagon piece of barrel wood encased in gold. And, then our Honeycomb and Signature Rings are more delicate and can be stacked with other rings. We’re also expanding our Rosé Collection with a chic canvas clutch that has a custom print lining and reads “Rosé the Day Away” on the outside. Any fellow rosé junkie will love it.

Olive and Poppy Rosé Collection

What kind of Olive and Poppy designs can we look forward to in the future?

In time for the holidays this year, we’ll be adding a few tabletop items because entertaining is obviously essential to wine country. We’ve designed colorful lucite napkin rings that feature a small piece of the barrel wood, and will come in a set with our gold block-printed napkins. As we continue traveling to other wine regions, we anticipate finding new inspiration. We’re excited about exploring Provence this summer and looking for unique natural elements there (along with lots of good rosé).

What would you like people to know about Olive and Poppy items?

Our goal is to create well-crafted products that are meaningful and carry extra significance to people. Any time someone writes us to say that they gifted their husband our Barrel Cufflinks because this is where they got engaged, or that they wear their Terroir Necklace every day because it reminds them of home, it’s a complete moment for us. That’s exactly what we set out to do, and we couldn’t love doing it more.

This holiday season, Olive and Poppy is debuting their first tabletop item specifically for the gift-giving season. The limited-edition set includes four napkin rings made from reclaimed barrel wood and colorful lucite, along with four white cotton napkins that are hand block-printed with the signature Olive and Poppy print in gold. The set will retail on Olive and Poppy’s website for $48. Truly an item that exemplifies unique design, this set makes a great hostess gift or way to add a piece of “wine country” to your holiday table.

Napkin Rings in Peacock Blue

For more information and to see the Olive and Poppy collection, visit OliveAndPoppy.com.