| News & Events | |
|
Fall/Winter 2002
General Winery News Wine Industry Profile Uncorked! From our Winemaker New Releases Special Report Personnel Corner |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Linda Reiff and the NVVA: A Perfect Fit to
By Kathie Fowler
When Linda Reiff was hired as the Executive Director of the Napa Valley Vintners Associa-tion (NVVA) in 1995, she had her work cut out for her. Her predecessor, the popular Elaine Mackey, had suffered a tragic and untimely death from breast cancer at the age of 39, and Linda had to step in and replace one of the most beloved people in the industry. The organization itself had no computer system, no web site, and was solely marketing-based, with the Napa Valley Wine Auction comprising the bulk of the association’s marketing efforts. The annual budget was based exclusively on membership dues — there were no fundraisers in place — and the limited staff necessitated relying heavily on volunteers. The NVVA represented 110 member wineries serviced by a staff of 8. During her tenure, Elaine Mackey used to joke that she had to answer to 100 bosses. Today, with a membership of 215 wineries, Linda is accountable to double that number. According to Tom Shelton, president and CEO of Joseph Phelps Vineyards and past president of the NVVA, “Under Linda Reiff’s direction, the NVVA has evolved into the pre-eminent voice of Napa Valley wine producers and a powerful representative for California wines. It can easily be said that the quality of the NVVA is a direct reflection of Linda’s ability to understand the issues and to promote the fine wines the association so ably represents.” What kind of temperament and special ability is required to meet the demands of a job that balances so many diverse elements -- political, social, economic and environmental — in the context of answering to 215 “bosses”? “I have a unique background,” Linda remarks. “It was a perfect fit for the job.” Born into a fifth generation Yolo County farming family, Linda grew up in Woodland, California where, beginning in the 4th grade, summer vacations included “sorting tomatoes standing on a lug box on the back of a tomato harvester.” “I used to be jealous of friends who didn’t have to work every summer,” she relates, “but I WAS able to buy my own car at 18, and with the help of scholarships pay my way through college. Looking back, my family instilled in me a strong work ethic that has served me well.” In 1971, Linda’s father planted a vineyard in the Dunnigan foothills which at its peak produced 20,000 cases under the Orleans Hill label (so named for the first winery established in Yolo County in 1869). The experience would prove invaluable as Linda became familiar with the production, sales, marketing and public relations aspects of running a vineyard and winery. During high school, in between summer jobs on the farm, Linda was a reporter for the Woodland Daily Democrat. She enrolled at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo as a journalism major (with an emphasis on agricultural communications), and continued to work as a reporter both during and after college until 1987, when she joined the staff of Congressman Vic Fazio. Linda worked for Fazio from 1987 to 1995, starting out in politics as his district representative for Sacramento, Yolo and Solano Counties. When Fazio became the 4th highest ranking democrat in the House of Representatives, Linda went to Washington to serve as his communications director in 1991 and chief of staff in 1993. She describes the experience as an invaluable precursor to the demands that would be put on her as executive director of the NVVA. “In California, Vic was a Democrat working in a Republican district, and every day the challenge was to work with people of differing ideologies, hear all sides and seek the common ground.” She laughs. “It’s a lot like my current job.” Today, Linda looks back on her 7 years with the NVVA and reflects on what she considers the highlights of her tenure so far. “Farmworker housing is at the top of my list,” she remarks. “When I arrived in 1995, neither the wine industry nor the NVVA had addressed the problem. When I was growing up, we housed our farmworkers, I sorted tomatoes with them, I grew up with them — this issue is personally important to me.” In 1995, under Linda’s leadership, the NVVA organized an ad hoc, voluntary assessment program to help cover the costs of running county farmworker facilities. Since 1999, the program has raised over $700,000 and was a precursor to one of the NVVA’s biggest achievements, the sponsoring of legislation (AB1550) which created a permanent assessment on Napa County vineyard land. “A majority of the county’s 1900 vineyard owners voted to tax themselves $7.76 per acre,” Linda explains with satisfaction. “Proceeds will fund new and continuing housing needs for migrant farmworkers in our valley.” In 2000, the NVVA was also instrumental in the formation of the Farmworker Housing Oversight Committee. The group, which includes representatives from the wine industry, public officials and farmworker advocates, advises the Napa County Board of Supervisors on key farmworking housing issues and works together to craft solutions. Also taken to new heights under Linda’s leadership, the Napa Valley Wine Auction, begun in 1981, remains a crucial marketing component that has evolved over the past decade into the most successful charitable wine auction in the world. Initially created as a fundraiser for community health care, in 1997 Linda worked with a task force to study other potential beneficiaries for the funds, and explains with considerable pride that “Today, the wine auction has raised over $40 million for health care, affordable housing, farmworker housing and youth development.” Another source of satisfaction has been the success of Premiere Napa Valley. “My first year here it was apparent we needed a fundraiser to augment the income generated by members’ dues. Premiere Napa Valley was born, the barrel auction for the trade that is held every winter at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. This has become one of the NVVA’s best marketing tools as well as a great fundraiser. Last year 900 people attended and we raised over $700,000.” Positioning the Napa Valley appellation as one of the finest winegrowing regions in the world has been an ongoing goal, although the priority has shifted from promoting the appellation to also protecting it. An arcane loophole in BATF regulations has allowed some producers to use the Napa appellation on labels even though the wine contains no Napa grapes. In 2000, the California legislature passed an NVVA-sponsored state law closing the loophole for Napa Valley wineries, but the law has been challenged by those parties who want to preserve the old labeling standards, and a hearing has been set for November 13th in Sacramento. “We won the first battle because we had ‘truth in labeling’ on our side,” Linda confides. “I’m hopeful we’ll win this one as well.” As for the future? “Working with wine industry issues is our biggest challenge. Farmworker housing, geographic brand names, social and environmental concerns, direct shipping — these are all on NVVA’s plate, although marketing and promotion are still our primary mission.” As executive director of the NVVA, Linda Reiff clearly has her work cut out for her, but in charting her professional career to its present course, it’s hard to imagine these critical issues being in more capable hands. Linda lives in St. Helena with her husband, Dick Ward, a partner in Saintsbury Winery. |
Back to Top
Next News Story
|
| The Winery | Wines | Shopping | News and Events | Links | Phelps Preferred | Contact us | Home |