John De Luca was a Deputy Mayor of San Francisco and CEO and president of the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. Born in 1933 to Sicilian immigrants, De Luca grew up in New York City and earned a B.A. in political science from UCLA in 1955, a Master’s in soviet studies from Harvard in 1958, and a Ph.D in international relations from UCLA in 1967. After teaching courses at San Francisco State University, he served as White House Fellow for the Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1966, and was Deputy Mayor of San Francisco from 1968 to 1975. Afterwards, he served as head of the Wine Institute for nearly twenty-eight years, becoming the Executive Vice Chair in 2003. In this interview, De Luca discusses his recruitment by Wine Institute, the institute's organizational structure, issues of trade barriers, labels, taxes, health and social issues, and his thoughts on new Federal Dietary Guidelines. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting food and wine.