Anna Maria Ponzi Appointed President of Ponzi Vineyards

SHERWOOD, OREGON (August 14, 2014) — Anna Maria Ponzi has been named president of Ponzi Vineyards. Established in 1970 by her parents Dick and Nancy Ponzi. For more than 20 years, Maria has directed the company’s sales and marketing programs. She owns and operates the business with her sister, winemaker Luisa Ponzi.

Maria has been involved in all aspects of the family business; from working in the vineyard, the cellar and the warehouse to promoting the wines and the Oregon wine region locally, across the country and around the world. In addition to managing the winery’s marketing efforts and domestic and export sales initiatives, Maria oversees daily operations including three tasting rooms. 

“Growing up in the Oregon wine industry has instilled in me a drive to promote this unique region’s beautiful bounty. We have something very special here. My intention is to maintain and mirror my parents founding principles, namely product integrity and sustainability. I have tremendous respect for what they have accomplished together,” Maria explains. “I feel fortunate to have been nurtured by my family and embraced by the wine community. This support has given me the ability and desire to take on the challenge of growing our brand and promoting the Oregon wine region in a highly competitive and global marketplace.”

Maria is a leading female figure in the Oregon wine community and is actively involved in promoting the state’s tourism. Currently, Maria sits on the Travel Portland board of directors. She is also an active board member of Oregon Pinot Camp and was president in 2013. For 10 years, Maria served on the Oregon Travel Experience board of directors and acted as a long-term board member of the Oregon Wine Board and Willamette Valley Wineries Association.

Graduating from the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon in 1987, Maria’s studies included a year each at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. Following graduation, Maria spent three years in advertising at a publishing house in Boston.

Returning home to the family business in 1991, Maria took over responsibilities as marketing director for BridgePort Brewing Company, Oregon’s first microbrewery, which the family founded in 1984, then sold in 1995. Maria was also instrumental in establishing the family’s regional restaurant and wine bar in Dundee which opened in 1999.

Ponzi Vineyards continues to pave the way for new winegrowers in the Willamette Valley, setting the bar for quality, innovation and stewardship of the land. Thriving under second-generation leadership for over 20 years, sisters Luisa and Maria Ponzi have brought the family business into the 21st century, with an array of achievements, including critical acclaim for the wines, construction of a state-of-the-art, gravity-flow winery, and most recently, a new modern tasting room, establishing the winery as a wine country destination. Current annual production is 45,000 cases with 130 acres of certified sustainable vineyards under production. For more information about the winery visit ponziwines.com.