Napa Valley Vintners

Linda Reiff, President + CEO

Linda Reiff knows wine, the wine business, and wine ethos. She grew up in Yolo County, working on a family farm that included an 80-acre vineyard and a small winery. After graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a BA in journalism, she reported on agricultural and environmental issues for the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune. Later, she worked for Congressman Vic Fazio, serving as district representative, communications director, and ultimately, chief of staff.

Through it all, Reiff stayed close to wine culture. Her late husband, Richard Ward, was the founder and managing partner of Saintsbury Winery, a Napa Valley producer renowned for its complex, elegant Pinot Noirs. In 1995, Reiff joined Napa Valley Vintners, the leading educational, communications and promotional organization for the nation’s premier viticultural region. She serves as NVV’s president and CEO and was named the global Person of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine in 2020.

Running an organization like the NVV is both exciting and gratifying, but it also involves profound challenges. Reiff grappled with a particularly tough problem in 2000, when some wineries were releasing bottlings that cited the Napa Valley on the labels – even though no Napa grapes had been crushed for the wines.

“It was pretty outrageous and posed a real threat to the Napa Valley brand,” recalls Reiff. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t illegal at the time, and it played to the advantage of some very large out-of-valley producers. There were powerful players arrayed against truth in wine labeling at the time.”

The solution was clear: a law that proscribed misleading and untruthful wine labeling. Reiff knew that involved carrying water (or wine, in this case) to Sacramento, finding a sponsor for a bill and enough legislators to support it – and convincing the Governor to sign it into law once it had passed both the Assembly and Senate.

It was a Herculean task, and Reiff – no stranger to the political process herself – knew she needed a special person to carry out the mission. There were plenty of contenders: Sacramento abounds with lobbyists and consultants. But this person had to meet several rigorous criteria, including unparalleled access to state lawmakers and a deep familiarity with the premium wine business.

“We also needed someone who was highly ethical, who believed in the rightness of our position,” says Reiff. “What was going on was simply wrong. It was unfair to both consumers and Napa Valley wine producers.”

Reiff finally selected Darius Anderson for the job.

“This was more than 20 years ago, and Darius was a young guy just starting out,” Reiff recalls. “He’d just launched his lobbying firm. But it was clear he knew what he was doing. And more to the point, he was enthusiastic and committed to the cause – he felt what was going on was wrong, and he wanted to correct it. We had interviewed some larger, well-established firms, and they just weren’t as positive. They were hesitant about going against powerful forces. Not Darius.”

Reiff was convinced Anderson would do his utmost to promote the interests of Napa Valley growers and winemakers in Sacramento, but she candidly admits she was surprised by the results of the young lobbyist’s efforts.

“Four months after Darius started his outreach, a bill banning misleading labeling was passed and signed into law,” she says. “It was really a remarkable accomplishment. It showed me that Darius isn’t just good at his work – he’s passionate. He believes in the truth, in doing what’s right, in doing good things.”

Reiff has gotten to know Anderson well over the years, and she attributes much of his success to his unique approach to business. It’s never a zero-sum game with the Sonoma consultant and investor, Reiff says: he’s always looking for ways to ensure everyone involved in a project prospers.

“He’s a coalition builder,” Reiff observes. “He looks for common ground, he finds consensus, and then he moves everyone forward. And that’s extremely difficult. First, you have to submerge your own ego, the compulsion to ‘win.’ Second, the kind of negotiations Darius handles are often extremely complex and involve multiple factions. But he finds ways to thread a path through everything and bring everyone together. He’s one of the most positive, uplifting people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

Reiff has continued to collaborate with Anderson since their truth-in-labeling work, most recently on recovery efforts following recent catastrophic fires in the North State’s wine country.

“Darius and his team were instrumental in helping our region find and access critical resources and solve insurance problems after the fires,” says Reiff.  “Our communities and region are in a much healthier place thanks to their work. We’re well on the road to recovery.”

Reiff’s relationship with Anderson has also expanded to encompass true friendship, she emphasizes.

“Another thing about Darius that I really appreciate is his determination to connect personal friends with his clients – and in a larger sense, build bridges and connect communities throughout the world. He is deeply devoted to outreach and support in Cuba, for example. That’s an interest I share, and I’ve been fortunate to work with him on some projects down there. You see all his passions displayed when he’s involved in that kind of work – for music, art, wine, and food – but mainly, for people. Darius really cares about people, and that comes through in everything he does.”