Wine and spirits industry expert, entrepreneur, and CEO Jeff O’Neill founded O’Neill Vintners & Distillers in 2004. A third-generation agriculturist, O’Neill learned early that those who cultivate the land carry a responsibility to steward it for future generations, values that have shaped both his career and his mission: inspire a happier, more sustainable world, one glass at a time.

Since founding O’Neill Vintners & Distillers, following 19 years as CEO of Golden State Vintners, O’Neill has become one of the wine industry’s most influential voices on regenerative agriculture, proving that scale and sustainability can go hand in hand. Under his leadership, the company became one of the first in the industry to achieve B Corp Certification and Regenerative Organic Certified® status, and it has earned the Green Medal Leader Award from the California Wine Institute for its climate-smart, soil-first farming practices. O’Neill has used that platform to drive regenerative and climate-smart viticulture in the industry’s broader conversation, championing practices that go well beyond his own vineyards and pointing toward what he sees as the future of wine and spirits. That commitment has also translated into the marketplace, with O’Neill launching the first Regenerative Organic Certified® wines in retail, helping bring regenerative agriculture from the vineyard to consumers at scale. In 2022, Wine Enthusiast named him “Person of the Year,” recognizing his role in shaping the future of the wine industry and advancing a more sustainable path forward.

With winery Estates in Sonoma and Paso Robles and a winery facility in Parlier, O’Neill’s portfolio includes Ram’s Gate Winery, Robert Hall Winery, Line 39, Wines of Substance, FitVine Wine, Harken Chardonnay, Rabble Wine Company, Charles Woodson’s Intercept, Vino, No. 209 Gin, and BrandyLab,

O’Neill’s commitment to advancing the industry extends well beyond his own company. He is a longtime supporter of education, having served on the Board of Directors of Summer Search and the University of California, Davis Viticulture & Enology Executive Leadership Board, and having developed the Charles Woodson & O’Neill Family Wine Scholarships. He has also served as Chairman of The Presidents’ Forum of the Distilled Spirits Industry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Woolf Farms in California’s Central Valley, and Chairman of the California Wine Institute.

O’Neill attended the University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business and Public Administration, earning a BS in 1978.