Team

Jeffrey O'Neill, Chief Executive Officer

Prior to founding O'Neill Vintners & Distillers, Jeff O'Neill was President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden State Vintners (GSV) from 1986 to 2004.  Under his direction, GSV expanded from a single winery location in the Central Valley into a vertically-integrated grower, producer and bottler of wine and wine-related products throughout California.  GSV operated seven production facilities across the state, owned over 10,000 acres of premier vineyards and shipped bulk wine and case goods to more than 30 countries around the world.  At the time of the company's sale in 2004, Golden State Vintners was the fifth largest winery in the US with sales over $100 million and the leading custom wine producer serving the industry.  O'Neill is a graduate from the University of the Pacific School of Business.

Matthew Towers, Chief Operating Officer

Matt Towers joined O'Neill Vintners & Distillers in 2005 as General Manager of the Parlier facility and is now Chief Operating Officer of the company.  In this position, Towers heads the budget/profit planning, cost accounting, risk management, cash management, financing and various operations analysis and support functions in addition to overseeing general plant operations.  Prior to joining O'Neill Vintners, Towers worked as Senior Strategic/Profit Planning Analyst for Golden State Vintners from1998 to 2003.  Between 2003-2005, Towers was Vice President Fiscal/MIS Operations for Fresno Madera Farm Credit.  Earlier in his career, Towers worked for the international accounting and consulting firm Deloitte & Touche.  Towers has a Masters of Business Administration and Bachelors of Science degree from California State University, Fresno.  He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of California.

Mark Rasmussen, Senior Winemaker

Mark Rasmussen joined O'Neill Vintners & Distillers as Senior Winemaker and Business Development Manager after 12 years with Golden State Vintners (GSV).  At GSV, Rasmussen was involved in winemaking and production activities across all five of the company's wineries.  He oversaw the winemaking for GSV's proprietary case goods portfolio, as well as wines bottled for control and private label customers.  Rasmussen also served as GSV's supervising winemaker for all grape harvest and crush activities.  He began his winemaking career in 1977 with Pacific Land and Viticulture and later moved to Sebastiani in 1982, where he became Director of Winemaking.  In 1986 Rasmussen started his own company, Global Vin and Beverage, where he was instrumental in the launch of both the Vinterra and Viansa wine brands.  He holds an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and a graduate degree in Food Science/Enology from Fresno State University. 

Mike Drobnick, Senior Vice President – Bulk Wine Sales

Mike Drobnick joined O'Neill Vintners & Distillers in 2006 as Senior Vice President of Bulk Wine Sales.  For the period 1985-2006, Drobnick served in a variety of senior sales management positions for Golden State Vintners (GSV).  As VP of GSV's wine sourcing and processing division, Drobnick directed all global wine procurement and purchasing activities, including the negotiation and drafting of bulk wine, grape processing and custom bottling contracts for domestic and export customers.  Prior to this role, Drobnick was National Sales Manager for GSV's proprietary and private label case goods business.  Earlier in his career, Drobnick held regional sales positions with several wine distributors, where he managed super-premium California wine sales to key retail and restaurant customers.  Drobnick earned a Bachelors of Science from California State University, Chico.

Steve Lindsay, Senior Vice President – Case Goods Sales & Marketing

Steve Lindsay joined O'Neill Vintners in 2009 from Adler Fels Winery where he was General Manager and drove sales to over 500,000 cases in less than four years.  Prior to Adler Fels, he served as Director of Marketing at Trinchero Family Estates for both the National Retail Development division and the Three Thieves brand.  Before Trinchero, Lindsay was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Golden State Vintners (GSV) where he led the growth of GSV's case goods business to over 1 million cases before the winery's sale in 2004.  Prior to GSV, he served as Marketing Director for Winery Exchange.  Earlier in his career, Lindsay held account management positions with several advertising and branding agencies including Primo Angeli, Goodby Silverstein and Hal Riney.  Lindsay holds an MBA from The Graduate School of Business at San Francisco State University, and a BS in Business from Miami University (Ohio).