Martina McBride Shares the ‘Sentimental’ Story Behind Her Family’s Holiday Traditions (Exclusive)

Martina McBride loves a nostalgic Christmas.

The ACM Award winner, 59, tells PEOPLE that when it comes to her family’s holiday traditions, it’s all very cozy and “sentimental.”

“We always get a live tree and we decorate it together,” she tells PEOPLE. “Our trees aren’t a themed tree. It’s more like all of our ornaments are very sentimental. Each girl gets an ornament every year for Christmas to bring back a sense of what they went through during the year. If we go on a vacation, we’ll try to find something that we can hang on the tree that represents that. So it’s fun to get them all down and tell all the stories.”

McBride, who has been married to her husband, John McBride, since 1988, is mom to three daughters: Delaney Katherine, 30, Emma Justine, 27, and Ava Rose Kathleen, 20. She tells PEOPLE that she hopes these family traditions they’ve had will carry on with her daughters and their own families some day. That includes her stories of her crocheted Christmas ornaments that she’s had for most of her life, bestowed upon her by her grandmother.

“My grandmother didn’t have a lot,” McBride says. “Well, none of us had any money, but she really didn’t have any money, and so she couldn’t really buy us presents, but she crocheted. So she would make all of the grandkids four or five little Christmas ornaments every year. And I still have those. It’s been like 50 years. They’re 50 years old. So every time when I bring them out, I’ll tell my kids that.”

Some of those crocheted ornaments were gifted to McBride more than 30 years ago when she was pregnant with her first daughter. She and her husband chose not to find out if they were having a boy or girl ahead of time, so McBride’s grandmother crocheted her both a pink and blue ornament.

McBride jokes that Delaney knows the story well because she reminds her of it every year when they decorate the tree.

Another one of McBride’s holiday traditions came about in more recent years: a great glass of wine with a holiday meal. Though, she says, her family wasn’t the wine-drinking type when she was younger, she’s grown an affinity for it. So much so that she launched her own wine label, Luna & Finn, sold exclusively at HSN. Named for her cat Luna and her daughter’s dog Finn, the wine is now a new staple at her special meals (and sometimes those in between, too). Right now Luna & Finn offers a rosé and pinot noir.

“It’s fun for me now as a host in my own home to be able to open up a bottle of wine and have a glass of wine while I’m cooking,” McBride says. “When people start arriving, it’s just nice to be able to hand them a glass of wine. And that’s what I love. I’m going to be serving [my wine] this year in my own home. You can start with the rosé and then carry it through to the red with dinner.”

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During her storied career in music and lifestyle, McBride has released 14 studio albums, been nominated for 14 Grammys, won CMA female vocalist of the year four times, written two cookbooks and hosted a Food Network show, Martina’s Table, among many other projects. Her love of being in the kitchen and sharing meals with family and friends made her wine brand the perfect next step.

“Since the start of my career, I only wanted two things: respect and longevity,” she told PEOPLE in 2021. “So to still be doing this many years later, and to have a good marriage and well-adjusted kids, is success to me.”