December 17, 2024 • 47 mins
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Join host Monica Enand and guest host Ned Renzi as they welcome Anna Maria Ponzi, second-generation vintner former CEO of Ponzi Vineyards and author of Pinot Girl, for an in-depth conversation about the evolution of Ponzi Vineyards.
Maria shares her family’s inspiring journey, from pioneering Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine industry in 1969 to their landmark sale to the Bollinger Family of Champagne, France.
She reflects on transforming a modest vineyard into a global powerhouse alongside her sister, Luisa, while preserving tradition and embracing innovation.
Explore the realities of running a family business, the challenges of winemaking in a changing climate, and Maria’s transition to community work and personal growth. With insights into family dynamics, the science of winemaking, and the power of intentional living, this episode is a masterclass in resilience and vision.
If you’d like to support Maria Ponzi’s nonprofit, Anthony’s Circle, which is dedicated to supporting foster youth in the Portland area, please visit
Anthony’s Circle.
For a deeper dive into Maria Ponzi’s incredible journey, check out her memoir,
Pinot Girl: A Family. A Region. An Industry. @amponzi.com a heartfelt book details her experiences growing up in one of Oregon’s pioneering wine families and their legacy of revolutionizing Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley
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Georgianna Moreland - Creator, Executive Producer & Managing Editor;
Matt Stoker - Editor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ned Renzi (00:03):
Something must have went right with your successful
sale to Bollinger.
Maria Ponzi (00:07):
The time felt right and the buyer came to us and it
was a champagne house that wasvery new to this region and we
thought this could take Oregonto the next level in terms of
featuring sparkling wines in ourregion.
So you know, yes, it was agreat sale and we benefited
(00:27):
financially from it, but we alsodid it with intention that this
would be a great thing for thefuture of the wine industry.
Georgianna Moreland (00:34):
This is Masterstroke with Monica Enid
and Sejo Petruzak, and welcometo our special guest host, ned
Renzi.
Conversations with founders,ceos and visionary leaders in
technology and beyond.
This episode of Masterstroke isbrought to you by Luminous
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Monica Enand (01:35):
We have a really great guest and I want to just
introduce this by saying noteverybody knows, but I'm from
Oregon, that is my home state,and it is a prominent wine
producing region.
Many people actually know thatnow, especially for its Pinot
Noir, but it wasn't.
Back in the I guess, late 60s,early 70s it was not.
(01:58):
There was not a big wineproducing region like California
.
There were a few key pioneersthat came to Oregon, and those
included were Dick and NancyPonzi.
They were key figures in thismovement.
They founded Ponzi Vineyards in1970, and that work helped get
(02:19):
Oregon on the map as a notablewine producing region, and we're
so excited to welcome my goodfriend, maria Ponzi, who, until
2021, when she sold the businessserved as the president of
Ponzi Vineyards.
So, maria, I am so happy thatyou are here.
Maria Ponzi (02:38):
Thank you, it's my pleasure.
Thank you for being a part ofyour show.
I'm really excited aboutchatting with you, so thanks for
having me.
Monica Enand (02:46):
Well, thank you.
And Maria is asecond-generation Vintner.
She grew up on the familyvineyard and worked every aspect
of the family business.
She got her degree injournalism from the University
of Oregon, she worked inBoston's publishing industry and
then she returned to the ruralfamily business, which I can't
imagine what that was like in1991.
(03:09):
And she and my other friend,her sister Louisa, joined forces
and not only did they continuetheir parents' legacy and this I
find, you know, justfascinating but they blazed the
path for growing path for thegrowing tide of female vintners.
And I think Luisa was a rarefemale winemaker, right, isn't
(03:33):
that true, maria?
For?
Maria Ponzi (03:34):
sure.
Monica Enand (03:39):
Definitely from an annual production of 10,000
to over 50,000 cases andincreased the vineyard holdings
from 20 to 140 acres In 2021,.
She and her sister successfullynegotiated the sale of the
winery to the esteemed Frenchhouse Jacques Bollinger of
(04:02):
Champagne France.
I don't know, did I say allthat right?
Maria Ponzi (04:04):
Yes, well done Bollinger, yes, boll of
Champagne France.
Monica Enand (04:07):
I don't know, did I say all that right?
Yes, well done Bollinger, yes,okay, sorry.
So what an amazing career, anamazing run you had.
Maria Ponzi (04:17):
Thank you.
Yeah, it's been amazing.
It's part of my DNA.
I cannot even begin to try toget away from it.
So, yeah, I'm definitelyimmersed in it, still today
actually.
But yeah, it's been an amazingtime.
Ned Renzi (04:31):
Maria, I spent most of my career in the tech world
and I think there's this fantasyof people in the tech world
that when they hit it bigthey're going to buy this
vineyard and have this kind ofcushy life.
And then I've known a couple ofpeople that actually do it and
it's a really hard life.
It's a really hard business.
(04:51):
It's a very rural lifestylethat most people don't have an
appreciation for.
Love to hear your experience ontaking over Ponzi from your
parents Like what went asexpected, what didn't, what were
surprises.
Maria Ponzi (05:00):
Yeah, I appreciate that, ned.
I meet these folks almost on adaily basis.
I feel like you know theromantic dream of living in the
countryside and drinking wineall day, you know, upon your
vineyard.
But yeah, truly it's atremendous amount of work and,
to be honest, it's a verycomplex business and that's
something that I think mostpeople don't even consider right
(05:22):
.
They do think about living inthe country and how lovely that
will be, but if you're actuallygoing to play wine for real, you
actually do need to know a bitabout how to operate it, and it
is quite complex and that'ssomething that, as one of the
early wineries, we really had tolearn on the job, to be honest.
So there were no, as Monicasaid, there was nobody around to
(05:44):
ask how do we do this and howdo I get my numbers to work?
And my P&L just doesn't seem toshape up ever, ever, and the
reality is it will never reallyshape up, my friends.
But yeah, I grew up in thecountry.
I have to say, as I reflect back, I think one of the, you know,
(06:05):
just surprisingly positivethings is that my folks didn't
plant us too far away from thecity of Portland, so we were
just about 30 minutes southwestof Portland at that time.
This is like 1969.
And that was actually prettyintentional because they wanted
us to be close to the city sothat we could eventually sell
the wine to the restaurants andto the retailers and the markets
(06:27):
and so forth.
And so we weren't, you know, anhour and a half away from the
city, and I think that waspretty savvy of them right from
the beginning, so right from theget-go, even though they were
trailblazers and, as Monicamentioned, there were really
there were no wine grapes herein the Willamette Valley when we
moved here, in fact, that's thewhole story is that we were we
(06:47):
were told that this was anabsurd idea.
You know, we got it all wrongand we should head back down on
I-5 south to Los Gatos, which iswhere I was born, because
that's where you're plantingwine grapes in the United States
.
But you know, fortunately, theythey were very stubborn and
determined to make this happenUnited States.
But you know, fortunately theywere very stubborn and
determined to make this happen.
(07:08):
And, yeah, today our wineindustry has really just grown
tremendously.
In, you know, less than 60years, we've got over 1,200
wineries in our state, we've gotlike 16 different AVAs and
we're still predominantlyproducing Pinot Noir, the most
part.
We do make a fair amount ofChardonnay, but the industry has
just grown tremendously andit's always, you know, it always
(07:32):
makes me feel, yeah, atremendous amount of pride to
have been at the very beginning.
Ten acres of vines that we hadto plant and, yes, I was four
years old and my sister wasyounger than that, my brother
was about six, so that was thestrong and mighty crew for many
(07:56):
years was pretty much, you know,expected to partake in every
aspect, from planting andworking in the vineyard to
working in the cellar and thebottling line, and then
eventually was fortunate to findthat there was this end part
which was pouring wine insomething, I mean, we call it a
(08:19):
tasting room today, but you knowthat again was the garage with
two barrels and a little door onthe top and we threw linen on
the top and that was the bar,but hosting people.
And so I really developed a lovefor the connection with people
over the years and hospitalityand of course then sales and
marketing and so forth, and sothat kind of started my career
(08:40):
path.
Ned Renzi (08:41):
Something must have went right with your successful
sale to Bollinger.
Maybe tell us a little bitabout that.
Maria Ponzi (08:46):
Yeah, well, you know this has been years and
this is a family business.
So I, you know I was I becamethe CEO, president oh, I don't
know Probably in that positionfor about 15 years or so, and at
that point it was just reallymy sister, louisa, and I that
were running the operation.
My older brother had left thebusiness, my folks had
(09:09):
completely backed away and so,you know, for those final
whatever it was almost 20 years,louisa and I were really at the
helm and, as Monica said, itwas a little bit of a lonely
ride only because there were nowomen really in those positions.
Louisa was truly a pioneer ofbeing one of the very, very few
(09:29):
women, if not the only woman.
Lynn Penrash was another youngwoman at the time making wine
here in the region, but you know, you just didn't see women in
the industry.
And so, negotiating a deal withnot only men from France during
(10:03):
the pandemic because thenegotiation literally started in
the fall of it and feeling likewe really got, uh, uh, yeah, we
got a great deal, we were ableto hold on to the family
vineyards, which was veryimportant, so we could maintain
our you know, our, our, you knowmaintain our kind of our legacy
, in a way of of being farmersfirst and um and yet letting the
(10:25):
business part go and see whatan international company could
do with it.
Monica Enand (10:30):
So yeah, it was a ride.
What an incredible, amazingjourney.
So, Maria, we talked to a lotof founders, executives, but
you're our first guest that tobe on the show.
That is part of amulti-generational family
business and you know we werewondering.
(10:52):
So you're taking over aspresident and CEO, was it?
It's just like HBO's Successionright, yeah exactly.
Maria Ponzi (11:00):
Yeah.
Monica Enand (11:01):
And, and you know , was it like you know you
identified with Shiv or Roman?
I don't know.
No, I mean, but I am curious,like we hear lots of stories
about families and it's a messything.
Georgianna Moreland (11:14):
Yes.
Monica Enand (11:14):
I know you work amazingly well together.
Did you always know I want totake this over, or did you?
Was there a?
Maria Ponzi (11:31):
time when you thought, gosh, I want to run
away and go do somethingcompletely different.
Oh, absolutely, I wanted to runaway.
Almost every day, you know, Iwas.
I was the kid who was like,please, I just want to be a
cheerleader, I just want to beon my dance team, I want to be a
Girl Scout, I want to doanything that be, you know, be
(11:51):
on this farm.
But I had to.
You know, I had to help, andthese were early days and there
weren't, there weren't peoplethat you could hire to step in.
I mean, it just simply wasn'tthat way.
And so, yeah, I, I, I, you knowgraduated from high school,
immediately went down toUniversity of Oregon and
graduated there in three years,because I, just I was restless.
And then I moved.
I literally, you know, lookedat a paper map and I was like,
where can I go?
That's the farthest point fromthis place of Oregon.
(12:14):
And it was Boston,massachusetts.
And there I was with my littleyou know suit and my little
briefcase, depending, you know,thinking all I want is an office
job.
I just don't want to be in thevineyard anymore, I don't want
to be in a dark, cold cellaranymore.
(12:36):
That was kind of the turningpoint for me because, you know,
I was like, okay, either I goback home and pretty much get
locked up to this familybusiness or I, you know,
continue to spread my wings.
But I wasn't really loving thework and I knew how how much my
parents needed support.
You know, at this time this isthe early 90s and so if you look
(12:58):
back to Oregon wine historythis is sort of like post, when
Domaine Duran moved in andDomain Serene had kind of just
showed up and so there was a lotof money, you know, finally,
really, and commitment cominginto the Valley.
That was really starting togive us, all you know,
(13:18):
credibility, because prior tothat, you know, we were just, we
were just, you know, smallbusinesses trying to get it
going, and so there was a lot ofthat going on.
We were getting incrediblescores.
Ponzi in particular, wasgetting written up across the
world, frankly, for having someof the best wines, best Pinot
Noirs in the world that wouldvibe with some of the best
Burgundy.
So I knew things were happeningand they needed probably the
(13:42):
extra hand.
So I came back and, yeah, I did,I kind of got locked up, but I
have to say that my folks wereincredibly gracious and generous
about sort of passing the batonon to both me and my sister.
You know, louisa was winemakingand production.
She took the helm of that awayfrom my father and then I really
(14:04):
took over the marketing andsales component for my mother
and then eventually, you know,moved into the leadership
positions.
But it was a moment of like OK,I'm back and now it needs to be
ours.
(14:36):
Family businesses can be very,very difficult and I have to say
that I think that we inparticular were fortunate to
have parents who were willing topass, you know, and didn't want
to get in the way, and in theend I just find that, you know,
as I age, just an incrediblygenerous and selfless act.
And I'm sure it was verydifficult, but we never saw that
.
It was quite the opposite, wewere being very encouraged and
(14:59):
supported by them, and so wekind of, you know, and then we
did, we, we made it our own andand and it was a blast.
Monica Enand (15:07):
Well, I first of all, yes, hats off to your
parents, cause we, ned and I,talked about the fact that when
people have to pass things onand leave it's, it's so
incredibly hard to detach youridentity and your self-esteem
and everything that gets wrappedup in in in that.
So, like hats off to them, buthats off to you and Louisa,
(15:27):
because you know, I don't knowif it's like Andrew Carnegie who
said, like shirt sleeves toshirt sleeves in a few
generations or whatever, butyour children, who I know, and
they're amazing people, I knowboth of your children and they
saw you not just steward, youweren't just stewards of this
asset that your parents created.
(15:48):
Right, you could have.
Then you could have said, oh,they were the value creators,
and now we are the stewards andwe have to work on preservation.
Or, you know, steward thisalong.
You could have, but you didn't.
You said, hey, like there's anopportunity here, we can grow
this thing and make it amazing.
And the combination of your twotalents really enabled you to
(16:11):
soar like that, and that is alsounusual in family businesses
yeah.
Maria Ponzi (16:16):
And I think that is something that was just another
kind of grace of luck, but thatLouisa, my sister, had
absolutely no interest inmarketing or sales, hated it,
hated getting up in front of acrowd and talking, and I loved
it and I hated.
I was terrible in science andbiology and the lab I mean oh my
(16:40):
, anything but and so wenaturally found paths, and so I
think it was nevercompetitiveness you know, you go
back to Succession, that showand we never had that kind of
rivalry like one of us wantingthe other person's jobs.
We were very much like you'rein your lane and I'm in my lane,
(17:00):
and then when we had to, youknow, make big decisions
together.
Fortunately, that's where wewere very in alignment in terms
of growth and not just growth,but I think it was also to
continue sort of this innovationand this kind of pioneering
spirit that our folks had set up, and we were able to do really
(17:21):
remarkable things.
Like you know, we started a newAVA, which is an American
viticulture area for folks whomay not know what that is, but
it defines a region within aregion, and it's very difficult
to do that.
We released wines that had neverbeen released, like Arnese and
Dolcetto, which were Italianvarietals.
People thought again, what arewe doing with those varieties?
(17:42):
But actually they turned out tobe successful.
And then you know just thewinery we did one of the first
Gravity Flow winery facilitieshere, which allowed the wines to
be even made in a more gentleway and in a larger volume.
So we weren't just making twobarrels or four barrels, but we
(18:03):
could make as you mentioned, wecould make tens of thousands of
cases of wine, but they alltasted as if they were in very
small batches.
So those were innovations.
(18:27):
And then, of course, the onethat I'm personally most proud
of is that we were able todesign and build out a beautiful
tasting room.
That was the first of its kindin 2012.
I think my husband and Idesigned our tasting room and it
was the first to like introducefolks to sitting down in the
Willamette Valley somewhere inwine country and actually, you
know, having service come to thetable and telling the story,
and it was more like it wasn'tto replicate what was happening
in California, but it was reallyto have an opportunity to
(18:51):
showcase and present theWillamette Valley as a wine
region and really justcontinuing that sort of you know
, what more can we do?
What more can we do and howmuch more can we elevate the
region?
And I think it kind of goes backto the decision to sell and to
who we sold to, because weweren't in any way desperate,
you know, it wasn't that.
It was the time felt right.
(19:13):
And the buyer came to us and itwas a champagne house.
You know that was very new tothis region and we thought, you
know, this could take Oregon tothe next level in terms of
featuring sparkling wines in ourregion.
So you know, yes, it was agreat sale and we benefited
financially from it, but we alsodid it with intention that this
(19:36):
would be a great thing for thefuture of the wine industry.
Ned Renzi (19:40):
Maria, in our industry we kind of joke.
You know who the pioneers arebecause they're the ones with
arrows in their backs.
And I sort of look at this youknow, being this ambassador for
Oregon nationally,internationally, and just sort
of making it into thisdestination, which it never was
previously, you really werepioneering.
What was that like and what didyou learn?
Maria Ponzi (20:04):
were pioneering.
What was that like and what didyou learn?
Yeah, I mean, it was justreally difficult, you know.
And I often think now about howI used to present the wines.
You know, if I was, wherever Iwas Tokyo or New York, chicago,
whatever it was that I wasalways, you know, the first was
an introduction of Oregon oreven like the United States and
like the West Coast, you know.
So I was like I had to teachthat part first.
(20:26):
I had to educate folks first onthat and like why the Willamette
Valley and what about theWillamette Valley?
And then we had to talk aboutPinot Noir because really in the
very early days nobody knewthis varietal Most folks were
drinking.
If they were drinking finewines in the 70s it was for the
most part it was, you know,cabernet.
Cabernet blends out ofCalifornia or Bordeaux's from
(20:47):
France, but this grape varietalwas unknown.
So I'd have to spend a bunch oftime talking about that
varietal and why it works wherewe are, and I always say you
know, and then I might get aminute in about Ponzi.
You know, I might get a minutein to talk about my brand, but
it was really just talking about, as you said, and really being
the ambassador for the state andthe region, and so I feel a
(21:10):
tremendous kind of still todaythis like ownership, in a
strange kind of awkward way,that I talk more about that than
I do about brand.
And you know, there was, yeah,hey, I had a lot of fun.
You know you talk about thearrows, but I kind of enjoyed
that.
I liked kind of taking the hitsbecause the hits made me work
(21:34):
harder, right, you know, when Iwas in Santa Barbara and people
would tell me again, this islate, like this is in the 90s or
2000s, what are you doing inSanta Barbara?
We make beautiful Pinot Noir.
You have no place here, andthey would literally throw my
wine bottle, you know, down thedrain while I'm there and I
(21:55):
thought, well, that was rude.
But then it was like, okay, wegot more work to do, you know so
then you just go in harder.
And you know so, then you justyou just go in harder and you
know French restaurants thatwould not even begin to allow
you to open your wines and um,and then going back with brown
bags and I'd be like, okay,let's just blind taste, you know
(22:16):
, and just not having that.
I, it was not.
I was not able to be um shy.
I had to have courage and befearless, and fortunately I kind
of thrive in that arena, so itworked out for me.
But man, yeah, there was a lotof arrows and my folks took a
(22:36):
ton of them, a ton of them, forsure there was always an added
layer of all of these fearlessuh things that you have to do.
Monica Enand (22:55):
But there's always an added layer of being a
woman, and we've talked aboutyou being a woman trailblazer.
Has it gotten better in thewine industry?
I assume there's more now.
Maria Ponzi (23:02):
And I mean, yes, it's death.
Oh my goodness, yes, it'sgotten so much better.
There's, there's actually awomen in wine organization now,
and you know there must be Idon't know a thousand members,
and it blows my mind, um, but Ido often think that, um, you
know, not that it's been said alot, but I think by Louisa and I
(23:26):
, being in the industry for solong, you know we were very
intentional about bringing womenin, you know, for positions in
my area, and Louisa was veryspecific about always trying to
find women to bring into thecellar over harvest time, women
to bring into the cellar overharvest time.
And, and you know, and to behonest, you know, some of them
(23:52):
didn't make it.
Because it is really hard,physical work, I mean, it is
really exhausting work and evenat a larger facility like ours,
was it's moving pallets around,it's using, you know, it's just,
it's, it's a lot of work.
Punch down is not easy.
I mean, as, as you said, Natthe early part.
Ned Renzi (24:10):
You know it sounds romantic until day two.
Maria Ponzi (24:11):
But reality sets in , reality sets in.
It's not quite as so.
I think we were very yeah, wewere very intentional about
always looking for women tointroduce this industry to, and
now it's gotten a little bitmore open and I think there are
more women winemakers in ourstate than anywhere else.
So that's really been fun.
(24:32):
Yeah, I mean it's still small,you know, we're still talking
little amounts of folks, but Ithink that it's changing.
Ned Renzi (24:41):
So that's good to see .
Maria, tell us about yourkeynote talk, the Four Ounce
Four.
Maria Ponzi (24:46):
Yeah, well, thank you.
So after the sale, you knowagain, you start to feel as
Monica expressed, you know, thatyou have this kind of loss of
identity when you've been doingsomething for so long, for
decades.
And I was sort of, you know,sitting there wondering, well,
what have I gotten out of mywhatever 40 years of wine?
(25:09):
What about it, you know?
And I really started reflectingon this idea of wine
appreciation and how our winecommunity lives in a certain way
, and I think it's because ofwine.
I've used already on thisinterview here the word
(25:29):
intentional several times and Ithink that that's ingrained in
the wine industry.
When you're producing reallybeautiful wines, you are
required to be intentional andthoughtful and to treat what
you're producing with atremendous amount of respect.
And I realized that when I pourwine I only pour myself about
(25:52):
four ounces.
I don't fill my glass to eightounces or even six ounces.
I really enjoy a small amountof wine in my glass so that I
can really appreciate it and Ican enjoy the flavors and the
aromatics.
And that is a wine.
That's because of a wine lifeand then I took it into life in
(26:14):
general and how in our culturewe tend to be.
So?
I don't know, we're just tendto be over consumptive and
excessive in a lot of our, in alot of what we do in our daily
habits, you know, and I wantedto kind of bring us back to this
idea of balance and, you know,just taking things a little bit
(26:37):
slower and being more thoughtfuland more intentional.
So the four ounce pour isreally about that.
It's about how to live a moremeaningful life with greater
intention.
I know growing up it was soimportant to us to have that
table, the table time, whichalways had a bottle of wine in
the center of it, and it'ssomething I want to share with
(26:57):
other people because I thinkwe're losing connection.
Ned Renzi (27:00):
That's a great message.
You know, on this identity thatyou touched on and Monica also
touched on, you know, right nowI'm actively working with two of
my CEOs who are exiting theircompanies and they're trying to
decide what they do for theirnext act.
Right, one's a more successfulexit, one's kind of not so great
exit, but it's kind of freeingthe founder up to move
(27:22):
potentially to another continentand really lay down new roots,
pick their next stack and decidewhat to do.
Like, maybe tell us a littlebit about what your process was
like for, how you thought aboutyour next stack.
And then also, I know you knowyou have a book coming up and
some other things going on.
Maybe tell us about that aswell.
Maria Ponzi (27:41):
As business owners or just executives, we are sort
of in a bubble of alwaysthinking ahead.
We're very driven, we tend tobe very driven people.
We tend to be somewhatimpatient sometimes.
Right, it's all about the next,the next, and I think, when
(28:01):
that has disappeared, it'sincredibly shocking.
You don't get the phone callthe next and I think, when that
is when that has disappeared,it's incredibly shocking to this
, right, you don't get the phonecall the next morning.
There's no text, there's noemails.
It's alarming and you feel likeyou kind of fell off a cliff.
And yet, and it felt like thatfor me.
And then there was a momentwhen I went wait a minute, let's
let's kind of embrace this andtake a second to like bring it
(28:24):
all back inside and reallyreflect on who you are.
And that is tricky too.
But I think, if you giveyourself the grace of time, of
which I did, I was also very Ifound myself to be very
vulnerable with my tightfriendship circles, not to
everyone, but to a lot of thegirlfriends, in particular that
(28:46):
who know me well and sharing,you know, kind of my
vulnerability and and that was,you know, that wasn't my, my
deal.
I was, I was the one I alwaysknow what's going on.
So being, I think, patient withyourself and being slightly
vulnerable and and being okaywith that helps to unlock this
other side.
And I think you know, trust me,man, I had a lot of tears.
(29:09):
I was feeling pretty low.
You know, I felt like notunless my business, but I lost
my family connection, my sister.
It was my business partner, Imean it was.
It was sort of a major moment,right.
But you hit bottom and everyonesays that you sort of hit this
moment of bottom and then youkind of re rebirth and you find
(29:31):
yourself again.
I had just finished a book, soit's called Pinot Girl, and so I
released that book, um, whichwas I've been some, I've been
working on it for 10 years.
It's a, a memoir, so it wasn'tlike it just happened.
And then I really starteddigging myself into the
community more.
And you know it's amazing,right, you sit on boards as
(29:54):
you're working your careers andyou're doing everything, and you
sit on those boards and you tryto give them as much time as
possible.
But, like, what can happen whenyou don't have a full-time job
and all that stress on you, howyou can give to nonprofits and
all these other tradeorganizations.
Man, I think I was on like fiveat one point and I went okay, I
got to back down on that and bemore intentional, but I started
(30:19):
a nonprofit over that first year.
That had nothing to do withwine, it had to do with
supporting foster youth andeducating them in high school so
we could increase thegraduation rate.
Because I was so tired ofseeing homeless issues and
addiction issues on the streetsof Portland and I was like we
got to get in front of thisproblem.
And so that has happened andit's tremendous.
(30:43):
So just like giving yourselfback to community, not just your
industry, but maybe even yourcommunity, the other community
that you live in and how tosupport others, because I think
we all have great talents beyondrunning our businesses and we
just need to unlock them.
Ned Renzi (31:02):
Maria, what's the name of your nonprofit?
Maria Ponzi (31:05):
Anthony's Circle and Anthony's Circle.
I founded it with a couplegirlfriends and the intention is
to bring a full-time coach ornavigator into the state high
schools so that there is someonewith foster youth on a 20, you
know, basically 24-7.
They're available on theweekends as well, if needed to
(31:27):
really support foster youth, whomany people don't really know
much about.
But their trauma is very, veryintense.
Mental health issues areextreme.
Most of them will.
If they even do graduate and inOregon there's it's a horrible,
(31:47):
it's like a 30% rate ofgraduation.
If they do graduate, theyusually find themselves
incarcerated, addicted andwithout homes, without jobs and
without a further highereducation.
So I was doing the researchwith my girlfriends.
We just like we need to.
We need to do something.
This is our city, this is ourcommunity and foster youth in
(32:09):
particular.
Learn more about that.
Where can they go online?
Anthonycirclecom.
And we would love your support.
Ned Renzi (32:28):
Yeah maybe Georgiana.
If you could put that in theshow notes, that'd be awesome.
Maria Ponzi (32:32):
Yep.
Monica Enand (32:33):
Absolutely.
You've also left out that youare now the director of the
Center for Wine Education atLinfield University and the
endowed chair of wine studies,so taking leadership and
supporting the next generationand doing that as well.
Maria Ponzi (32:48):
Yeah, that kind of came up last year.
I was doing all this work andhaving a lot of fun with my
keynote and then Linfield calledand said, hey, would you like
to come be our interim directorof the Wine Center?
And I thought, well, ok, well,you know why not, you know, so
you're like OK.
So I jumped into that and thenrealized that this was a whole
(33:11):
new world and a whole new waythat I could get involved and
again kind of give back to mycommunity and back to the
industry and and really supportyoung people who are interested
in getting into this industry.
And so, yeah, I've been in theposition now as permanent
director of the Center for WineEducation at Winfield for the
last six months and it's justbeen.
It's a whole new world.
It is not living on a vineyard,trust me.
(33:33):
It's going to a campus withyoung people.
It's very interesting, but I'mable to build out curriculums
and the classes and recruitinstructors.
We're just opening up amaster's, the first master's in
wine business leadership,because, again, as I mentioned,
I'm very passionate aboutbringing in wine business into
(33:53):
this arena, because for too longwe've been talking about how to
make wine and how to grow winegrapes, but we don't really talk
about how to keep them going,and I really feel we need to to,
you know, talk about how tosustain the industry that we
started.
So it's a it's a shift, but it,it, it definitely seems to be
making a lot of sense to me,even though it's a very
different.
Uh, yeah, arena.
Monica Enand (34:17):
Wow, um.
Well, it doesn't sound likeyou're slowing down too much,
but I guess you're probably notas busy as you.
Well, I have to say, if youhave not been to the Wine
Willamette Valley wine region, Ihighly recommend it I.
It is so beautiful and nice.
The Ponzi that Sanjay had is.
I had my husband's 50thbirthday party at your at the
(34:39):
Ponzi vineyards and the tastingroom, and it was just amazing
and lovely and what a gorgeousday and a gorgeous place to come
visit.
So I highly recommend that.
And, of course, ponzi wines arefabulous.
We drink them regularly and Ilove memoirs, so I cannot wait
to get a hold of yours, becauseyour memoir starts kind of at
(35:04):
the beginning of your parentsjourney.
Right, they weren't farmers,winemakers, business people, um,
they were just passionate humanbeings right, yeah, and just
very determined, yeah determinedwith three children.
Yeah, little kids little kids,little kids, little kids.
And making this all happen Likewhat an incredible story.
(35:27):
And I think, telling that storythrough your eyes of a little
girl, kind of growing up in thatand watching and what you
learned from watching yourparents, it's good for all of us
parents to think about how ourkids see us and the work we do,
and I just think it's it's an.
I'm so glad you took the timeto write the book.
(35:48):
I know you said you've beenworking on for 10 years.
I can imagine, um, but I'mgoing to go grab a copy.
Um, it's called Pinot Girl,written by and I should say it's
written by Anna Maria Ponzi.
I usually call you Maria, but,um, I usually call you Maria,
but your name is Anna MariaPonzi and I just checked it's.
(36:08):
Amponzicom is where you can getthe book.
Maria Ponzi (36:12):
Yeah, you can go just direct to my website,
amponzicom.
You can buy it also at yourlocal bookstores, but I really,
again, I'm very community-minded, so I like to either support my
local bookstore or the authordirect, and that goes for all
books.
I think it's interesting tomaybe mention that my father was
(36:34):
a mechanical engineer.
He worked for Disney and hegave that job up to start
something that he knew reallynothing about, and so it is very
inspiring and I think as youage and as you become a parent,
like you said, you know youreally do reflect back more on
your beginnings and how you knowhow they shape you.
And yeah, that's why I wrotethe book, because I felt like
(36:56):
that story needs to be told, andit's not just really about me
and my family, but it's reallyabout the original, all of the
original wine growers, because Ihave a deep respect for all of
those folks that tried somethingcompletely unknown.
Monica Enand (37:12):
Okay, Maria, if you're willing to stick with us.
We've got a couple questionsfrom the audience and in fact,
there are two questions from theother side of the country, both
, coincidentally, from SouthFlorida.
Juan Estefan, the owner ofSeven Mishi Wines, a boutique
wine distributed throughoutMiami, would like to know how
has the rise of private labelwines affected competition
(37:36):
amongst established wine brands?
Maria Ponzi (37:39):
Interesting question.
I I think the first time that Iwas approached to do a private
label I can't remember who itwas and I was astonished.
I was like wait, costco wantsto put their label on my wine.
Like wait, I don't get that,that's like you're going to put.
(38:00):
So, like you know, I alwayswent the other way.
I was like, if I was Prada,would you ask me to put, you
know, kirkland on my Prada?
You know handbag?
I think not.
So it was always like, again,it was an arrow, ned, it was
like a.
You know, I got to deal withthis.
I got to deal with this.
How am I dealing with this?
Because if I say no, I'm notgoing to get into Costco.
(38:22):
So those were very, these werevery big decisions for me.
I took them all very seriously.
And how has it impacted us?
I mean, I just, I don't know.
I don't like it.
I still don't like it.
I don't appreciate it.
I don't think that it respectsthe producers.
We are out here working veryhard for what we do.
(38:48):
We do it in our way, in our ownspecific way.
Every house makes winesdifferently, grows their grapes
differently in different areas,and they're very specialized.
And so when you're asked tomake something in a mass without
any kind of recognition, Iguess, just in general, I feel
(39:09):
like it's sort of disrespectful.
I think I still feel that way.
How has it changed it?
I guess I just said it.
You know, you feel that youeither have to sell out and do
it in a way I'm being reallyfrank or you just don't, and
then you have to kind of dealwith that, or you just don't and
then you have to kind of dealwith that.
I never did private labels whenI worked at the winery.
(39:32):
I only made or I should say weonly made wines for restaurants,
for private label restaurants.
At that time we were doing alot of what we call on-premise,
and those would be restaurantsthat had followed us and
supported us for many years andthen we would, you know, do a
couple barrels or whatever forthem.
Monica Enand (39:52):
And the second part of his question thank you
was besides Pinot, what othergrapes thrive in the Willamette
Valley in Oregon?
Maria Ponzi (39:58):
Yeah, well, pinot Noir is still our number one,
despite the warming trend thatwe are definitely experiencing.
Chardonnay is right there,although our Chardonnays are
going to be very different instyle than what I think a lot of
folks consider domesticChardonnays.
(40:18):
These are not heavy, heavilyoaked and full-bodied
necessarily, but ratherassimilate with French Burgundy
Chardonnays, which have just anicer balance of acid and
minerality, which lendthemselves really, I think, well
to food, to dishes.
(40:39):
And then we're seeing, you know, with a lot of the new folks,
new winemakers, just these new,kind of funny because they're
new varietals.
But they're old varietals to mebecause we tried them in the
early days, things likeSauvignon Blanc and Gamay
(40:59):
Gewürztraminer Riesling.
These are varietals that weplanted as a little family in
1969 and then switched it overbecause they weren't thriving.
But now again, with the warmingtrends, we're starting to see
new varieties here.
So things are shifting around abit, but I think predominantly
Pinot Chardonnay are still theking and the queen.
Ned Renzi (41:21):
Before I hit another audience question, I did have
one follow-up on that.
So, with the planet warming, Iwas reading articles just about
how the grapes sweeten in termsof concentrating.
So if you let them on the vinelonger they could have more
alcohol.
But if you harvest them earlyto reduce the alcohol they may
(41:42):
not have the flavor.
And I see, like some Californiagrowers that I know, have put
out a stake, you know where.
They are okay with a little bitextra alcohol to maintain the
flavor.
Some of the French are taking adifferent view, Like how were
you thinking about that like?
Or your sister from awinemaking standpoint?
Maria Ponzi (41:58):
Yeah, well, I mean, it goes back to fermentation.
So it's all about sugar, right.
So sugar converts to alcohol.
So again I can go back tohistory to share with you.
In the early days of winemaking, we would have an alcohol
content, alcohol by volume, oflike a 12%, in some years 11.5%
alcohol.
Today we will see wines thatare closer to 14% alcohol, and
(42:25):
so what that's telling us isthat the sugar is higher, right,
which means it's warming.
We're getting more sugar.
Acid comes from cool, from coolevenings, cool mornings, and
that's been really this sweetthing about Oregon, about the
Willamette Valley, is you wouldhave nice warm days but you'd
have cool evenings, so you had alovely balance of acid and
sugar.
You would have nice warm daysbut you'd have cool evenings, so
(42:46):
you had a lovely balance ofacid and sugar.
So I think that as we are movingforward, we're going to see
higher alcohol wines and tryingto manage acid, which, by the
way, for me, acid allows forgreater flavor profile as
opposed to just heavyoverweighted kind of high
alcohol wines, profile asopposed to just heavy
(43:11):
overweighted kind of highalcohol wines.
So I think that's the trick ofthe winemaker these days, is how
to balance the acid.
It's also maybe interesting tonote that, you know, with
sparkling wines, known asChampagne in Champagne France,
these wines, these grapes, arepicked early in the season, so
they're higher acid, so you'renot looking for high alcohol
with those wines.
So that's actually what'shappening right now as we early
in the season, so they're higheracid, so you're not looking for
high alcohol with those wines.
So that's actually what'shappening right now.
As we speak, in the WillametteValleys we're starting to slowly
(43:33):
start to pick those.
It's the initial pick of theseason for sparkling and then we
move into the deeper reds laterin the season.
Ned Renzi (43:43):
So Maria Esteban, a wine enthusiast and avalute
traveler from Miami, would liketo know.
Maria Ponzi (43:48):
It's like you choose what you love and what
(44:09):
you want the outcome to be.
So when it comes to, I'll talkabout Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir traditionallytraditionally meaning in
Burgundy, france, where it allbegan traditionally is aged in
oak.
Those oak barrels typically aremade out of oak from French
(44:30):
forests and that oak barrelallows the wine flavor to still
stay intact and only reallygives it a bit of a backbone to
it.
So we're not trying toinfluence the flavor of the
grape itself, we're just tryingto give it a little bit of
structure from the barrel, andso that would be the winemaker's
(44:51):
decision to use a barrel.
These days a lot of folks wanteven less oak flavor to their
wines and so they're usingconcrete casks which tend to be
similar to a stainless steelbarrel, which will not bring any
flavor profile at all.
So it really reduces that kindof structure piece.
(45:15):
But typically Pinot Noir is inyour French barrels.
Cabernet heavy reds aretypically in oak.
Heavy reds are typically in oak, but we are starting to see a
movement towards some of theconcrete for that, just because
they don't want so much of theoak influence.
And then whites are typicallyin stainless steel just because
(45:36):
they want to retain the fruitflavor and kind of the
minerality, that kind offreshness of the fruit, and
stainless steel allows that tohappen.
But Chardonnay I mean I'mgetting too complicated here,
but Chardonnay can go intobarrel as well.
If you like an oaky Chardonnay,that would be one that has
(45:57):
probably been in oak for a while.
So really, I mean, this is thebeautiful thing about wine is
that there's thousands andthousands and thousands of
different types of wine andregions around the world and
then you get to play withdifferent winemakers in
different houses that choose tomake it in different ways.
So you can just have so muchfun your entire life drinking
(46:19):
all kinds of wines and never getbored.
Ned Renzi (46:23):
Yeah, that's awesome.
I don't mind if you geek out, Iget into that and understanding
all the stuff, so I'm learningat a time.
In the conversation, maria alsohad a follow-on question Are
screw top bottles an inferiorwine in quality?
Maria Ponzi (46:38):
Absolutely not.
In fact, I would say it'sactually the opposite.
Ned Renzi (46:42):
That's what I had read too.
Okay, so that's good, not fakenews.
Maria Ponzi (46:46):
Yeah, no, this is actually really important to
note.
The twist-off closure actuallyseals wine very, very well.
This came to the industry gosh,maybe I don't even know now
20-some years ago when the corkwe were seeing a lot of cork
(47:08):
taint in our wines which wascausing spoiling in a lot of the
most expensive wines.
To be honest, it was very hardto control that because cork is
coming from the cork forests inPortugal and so forth, and this
was just something that happenedand they had to and they did a
(47:28):
lot of research in trying to fixthat problem.
But over the interim of whilethey were trying to repair the
problem there with their corkforest, people came up with
alternatives and so the Stelvanclosure came out in particular
and was a really lovely closure,especially for white wines,
because it would allow the winesto be preserved as the
(47:49):
winemaker wanted them to be.
So those wines are actuallymore fresh and fruity and
vibrant in a twist off than theywould be in a cork.
Now, I'll say that and then justkind of note that if you like
to age wines and not everybodyeven understands why you would
age wines and there's becoming,you know, less of a trend for
(48:11):
that but if you're aging wines,you typically would want to age
with a cork, just because itwill, it'll, it'll do.
It'll kind of help to releasesome of the air which you sort
of want over time from thebottle so it can age well.
So that's great for aging.
But for anything that you'regoing to drink within you know,
months, six months or so iswonderful with a twist off.
(48:33):
And I you should see my cellar,my cellar is predominantly
twist offs, except for my,really, you know, nice red wines
.
They're still in corks.
Closure.
Monica Enand (48:43):
Not a box.
You don't drink out of a box,do you?
I really can't, I really can't.
Thank you so much, maria, forbeing with us on the
Masterstroke podcast today.
Thank you, ned, for co-hostingwith me.
Ned Renzi (48:55):
My close with this was a good one.
I liked it.
Monica Enand (48:58):
Absolutely Added some interest to our lives.
So thank you for being here.
Ned Renzi (49:03):
I think I'm going to sign off early and pop a cork
and start happy hours after thisconversation.
Monica Enand (49:09):
At least you didn't start while we were
taping, so I appreciate that.
Maria Ponzi (49:13):
I was tempted though I was tempted, I love it.
That's great.
Monica Enand (49:18):
Well, thank you for having me, of course, and
thank you to our executiveproducer, georgiana Moreland.
That wraps it up for anotherepisode of Masterstroke.
Georgianna Moreland (49:31):
Thank you for listening today.
We would love for you to followand subscribe.
Monica and Sejo would love tohear from you.
You can text us directly fromthe link in the show notes of
this episode.
You can also find us on theLinkedIn page at Masterstroke
Podcast with Monica Enid andSejo Petrzak.
Until next time.
Something must have went right with your successful
sale to Bollinger.
Maria Ponzi (00:07):
The time felt right and the buyer came to us and it
was a champagne house that wasvery new to this region and we
thought this could take Oregonto the next level in terms of
featuring sparkling wines in ourregion.
So you know, yes, it was agreat sale and we benefited
(00:27):
financially from it, but we alsodid it with intention that this
would be a great thing for thefuture of the wine industry.
Georgianna Moreland (00:34):
This is Masterstroke with Monica Enid
and Sejo Petruzak, and welcometo our special guest host, ned
Renzi.
Conversations with founders,ceos and visionary leaders in
technology and beyond.
This episode of Masterstroke isbrought to you by Luminous
(00:56):
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Monica Enand (01:35):
We have a really great guest and I want to just
introduce this by saying noteverybody knows, but I'm from
Oregon, that is my home state,and it is a prominent wine
producing region.
Many people actually know thatnow, especially for its Pinot
Noir, but it wasn't.
Back in the I guess, late 60s,early 70s it was not.
(01:58):
There was not a big wineproducing region like California
.
There were a few key pioneersthat came to Oregon, and those
included were Dick and NancyPonzi.
They were key figures in thismovement.
They founded Ponzi Vineyards in1970, and that work helped get
(02:19):
Oregon on the map as a notablewine producing region, and we're
so excited to welcome my goodfriend, maria Ponzi, who, until
2021, when she sold the businessserved as the president of
Ponzi Vineyards.
So, maria, I am so happy thatyou are here.
Maria Ponzi (02:38):
Thank you, it's my pleasure.
Thank you for being a part ofyour show.
I'm really excited aboutchatting with you, so thanks for
having me.
Monica Enand (02:46):
Well, thank you.
And Maria is asecond-generation Vintner.
She grew up on the familyvineyard and worked every aspect
of the family business.
She got her degree injournalism from the University
of Oregon, she worked inBoston's publishing industry and
then she returned to the ruralfamily business, which I can't
imagine what that was like in1991.
(03:09):
And she and my other friend,her sister Louisa, joined forces
and not only did they continuetheir parents' legacy and this I
find, you know, justfascinating but they blazed the
path for growing path for thegrowing tide of female vintners.
And I think Luisa was a rarefemale winemaker, right, isn't
(03:33):
that true, maria?
For?
Maria Ponzi (03:34):
sure.
Monica Enand (03:39):
Definitely from an annual production of 10,000
to over 50,000 cases andincreased the vineyard holdings
from 20 to 140 acres In 2021,.
She and her sister successfullynegotiated the sale of the
winery to the esteemed Frenchhouse Jacques Bollinger of
(04:02):
Champagne France.
I don't know, did I say allthat right?
Maria Ponzi (04:04):
Yes, well done Bollinger, yes, boll of
Champagne France.
Monica Enand (04:07):
I don't know, did I say all that right?
Yes, well done Bollinger, yes,okay, sorry.
So what an amazing career, anamazing run you had.
Maria Ponzi (04:17):
Thank you.
Yeah, it's been amazing.
It's part of my DNA.
I cannot even begin to try toget away from it.
So, yeah, I'm definitelyimmersed in it, still today
actually.
But yeah, it's been an amazingtime.
Ned Renzi (04:31):
Maria, I spent most of my career in the tech world
and I think there's this fantasyof people in the tech world
that when they hit it bigthey're going to buy this
vineyard and have this kind ofcushy life.
And then I've known a couple ofpeople that actually do it and
it's a really hard life.
It's a really hard business.
(04:51):
It's a very rural lifestylethat most people don't have an
appreciation for.
Love to hear your experience ontaking over Ponzi from your
parents Like what went asexpected, what didn't, what were
surprises.
Maria Ponzi (05:00):
Yeah, I appreciate that, ned.
I meet these folks almost on adaily basis.
I feel like you know theromantic dream of living in the
countryside and drinking wineall day, you know, upon your
vineyard.
But yeah, truly it's atremendous amount of work and,
to be honest, it's a verycomplex business and that's
something that I think mostpeople don't even consider right
(05:22):
.
They do think about living inthe country and how lovely that
will be, but if you're actuallygoing to play wine for real, you
actually do need to know a bitabout how to operate it, and it
is quite complex and that'ssomething that, as one of the
early wineries, we really had tolearn on the job, to be honest.
So there were no, as Monicasaid, there was nobody around to
(05:44):
ask how do we do this and howdo I get my numbers to work?
And my P&L just doesn't seem toshape up ever, ever, and the
reality is it will never reallyshape up, my friends.
But yeah, I grew up in thecountry.
I have to say, as I reflect back, I think one of the, you know,
(06:05):
just surprisingly positivethings is that my folks didn't
plant us too far away from thecity of Portland, so we were
just about 30 minutes southwestof Portland at that time.
This is like 1969.
And that was actually prettyintentional because they wanted
us to be close to the city sothat we could eventually sell
the wine to the restaurants andto the retailers and the markets
(06:27):
and so forth.
And so we weren't, you know, anhour and a half away from the
city, and I think that waspretty savvy of them right from
the beginning, so right from theget-go, even though they were
trailblazers and, as Monicamentioned, there were really
there were no wine grapes herein the Willamette Valley when we
moved here, in fact, that's thewhole story is that we were we
(06:47):
were told that this was anabsurd idea.
You know, we got it all wrongand we should head back down on
I-5 south to Los Gatos, which iswhere I was born, because
that's where you're plantingwine grapes in the United States
.
But you know, fortunately, theythey were very stubborn and
determined to make this happenUnited States.
But you know, fortunately theywere very stubborn and
determined to make this happen.
(07:08):
And, yeah, today our wineindustry has really just grown
tremendously.
In, you know, less than 60years, we've got over 1,200
wineries in our state, we've gotlike 16 different AVAs and
we're still predominantlyproducing Pinot Noir, the most
part.
We do make a fair amount ofChardonnay, but the industry has
just grown tremendously andit's always, you know, it always
(07:32):
makes me feel, yeah, atremendous amount of pride to
have been at the very beginning.
Ten acres of vines that we hadto plant and, yes, I was four
years old and my sister wasyounger than that, my brother
was about six, so that was thestrong and mighty crew for many
(07:56):
years was pretty much, you know,expected to partake in every
aspect, from planting andworking in the vineyard to
working in the cellar and thebottling line, and then
eventually was fortunate to findthat there was this end part
which was pouring wine insomething, I mean, we call it a
(08:19):
tasting room today, but you knowthat again was the garage with
two barrels and a little door onthe top and we threw linen on
the top and that was the bar,but hosting people.
And so I really developed a lovefor the connection with people
over the years and hospitalityand of course then sales and
marketing and so forth, and sothat kind of started my career
(08:40):
path.
Ned Renzi (08:41):
Something must have went right with your successful
sale to Bollinger.
Maybe tell us a little bitabout that.
Maria Ponzi (08:46):
Yeah, well, you know this has been years and
this is a family business.
So I, you know I was I becamethe CEO, president oh, I don't
know Probably in that positionfor about 15 years or so, and at
that point it was just reallymy sister, louisa, and I that
were running the operation.
My older brother had left thebusiness, my folks had
(09:09):
completely backed away and so,you know, for those final
whatever it was almost 20 years,louisa and I were really at the
helm and, as Monica said, itwas a little bit of a lonely
ride only because there were nowomen really in those positions.
Louisa was truly a pioneer ofbeing one of the very, very few
(09:29):
women, if not the only woman.
Lynn Penrash was another youngwoman at the time making wine
here in the region, but you know, you just didn't see women in
the industry.
And so, negotiating a deal withnot only men from France during
(10:03):
the pandemic because thenegotiation literally started in
the fall of it and feeling likewe really got, uh, uh, yeah, we
got a great deal, we were ableto hold on to the family
vineyards, which was veryimportant, so we could maintain
our you know, our, our, you knowmaintain our kind of our legacy
, in a way of of being farmersfirst and um and yet letting the
(10:25):
business part go and see whatan international company could
do with it.
Monica Enand (10:30):
So yeah, it was a ride.
What an incredible, amazingjourney.
So, Maria, we talked to a lotof founders, executives, but
you're our first guest that tobe on the show.
That is part of amulti-generational family
business and you know we werewondering.
(10:52):
So you're taking over aspresident and CEO, was it?
It's just like HBO's Successionright, yeah exactly.
Maria Ponzi (11:00):
Yeah.
Monica Enand (11:01):
And, and you know , was it like you know you
identified with Shiv or Roman?
I don't know.
No, I mean, but I am curious,like we hear lots of stories
about families and it's a messything.
Georgianna Moreland (11:14):
Yes.
Monica Enand (11:14):
I know you work amazingly well together.
Did you always know I want totake this over, or did you?
Was there a?
Maria Ponzi (11:31):
time when you thought, gosh, I want to run
away and go do somethingcompletely different.
Oh, absolutely, I wanted to runaway.
Almost every day, you know, Iwas.
I was the kid who was like,please, I just want to be a
cheerleader, I just want to beon my dance team, I want to be a
Girl Scout, I want to doanything that be, you know, be
(11:51):
on this farm.
But I had to.
You know, I had to help, andthese were early days and there
weren't, there weren't peoplethat you could hire to step in.
I mean, it just simply wasn'tthat way.
And so, yeah, I, I, I, you knowgraduated from high school,
immediately went down toUniversity of Oregon and
graduated there in three years,because I, just I was restless.
And then I moved.
I literally, you know, lookedat a paper map and I was like,
where can I go?
That's the farthest point fromthis place of Oregon.
(12:14):
And it was Boston,massachusetts.
And there I was with my littleyou know suit and my little
briefcase, depending, you know,thinking all I want is an office
job.
I just don't want to be in thevineyard anymore, I don't want
to be in a dark, cold cellaranymore.
(12:36):
That was kind of the turningpoint for me because, you know,
I was like, okay, either I goback home and pretty much get
locked up to this familybusiness or I, you know,
continue to spread my wings.
But I wasn't really loving thework and I knew how how much my
parents needed support.
You know, at this time this isthe early 90s and so if you look
(12:58):
back to Oregon wine historythis is sort of like post, when
Domaine Duran moved in andDomain Serene had kind of just
showed up and so there was a lotof money, you know, finally,
really, and commitment cominginto the Valley.
That was really starting togive us, all you know,
(13:18):
credibility, because prior tothat, you know, we were just, we
were just, you know, smallbusinesses trying to get it
going, and so there was a lot ofthat going on.
We were getting incrediblescores.
Ponzi in particular, wasgetting written up across the
world, frankly, for having someof the best wines, best Pinot
Noirs in the world that wouldvibe with some of the best
Burgundy.
So I knew things were happeningand they needed probably the
(13:42):
extra hand.
So I came back and, yeah, I did,I kind of got locked up, but I
have to say that my folks wereincredibly gracious and generous
about sort of passing the batonon to both me and my sister.
You know, louisa was winemakingand production.
She took the helm of that awayfrom my father and then I really
(14:04):
took over the marketing andsales component for my mother
and then eventually, you know,moved into the leadership
positions.
But it was a moment of like OK,I'm back and now it needs to be
ours.
(14:36):
Family businesses can be very,very difficult and I have to say
that I think that we inparticular were fortunate to
have parents who were willing topass, you know, and didn't want
to get in the way, and in theend I just find that, you know,
as I age, just an incrediblygenerous and selfless act.
And I'm sure it was verydifficult, but we never saw that
.
It was quite the opposite, wewere being very encouraged and
(14:59):
supported by them, and so wekind of, you know, and then we
did, we, we made it our own andand and it was a blast.
Monica Enand (15:07):
Well, I first of all, yes, hats off to your
parents, cause we, ned and I,talked about the fact that when
people have to pass things onand leave it's, it's so
incredibly hard to detach youridentity and your self-esteem
and everything that gets wrappedup in in in that.
So, like hats off to them, buthats off to you and Louisa,
(15:27):
because you know, I don't knowif it's like Andrew Carnegie who
said, like shirt sleeves toshirt sleeves in a few
generations or whatever, butyour children, who I know, and
they're amazing people, I knowboth of your children and they
saw you not just steward, youweren't just stewards of this
asset that your parents created.
(15:48):
Right, you could have.
Then you could have said, oh,they were the value creators,
and now we are the stewards andwe have to work on preservation.
Or, you know, steward thisalong.
You could have, but you didn't.
You said, hey, like there's anopportunity here, we can grow
this thing and make it amazing.
And the combination of your twotalents really enabled you to
(16:11):
soar like that, and that is alsounusual in family businesses
yeah.
Maria Ponzi (16:16):
And I think that is something that was just another
kind of grace of luck, but thatLouisa, my sister, had
absolutely no interest inmarketing or sales, hated it,
hated getting up in front of acrowd and talking, and I loved
it and I hated.
I was terrible in science andbiology and the lab I mean oh my
(16:40):
, anything but and so wenaturally found paths, and so I
think it was nevercompetitiveness you know, you go
back to Succession, that showand we never had that kind of
rivalry like one of us wantingthe other person's jobs.
We were very much like you'rein your lane and I'm in my lane,
(17:00):
and then when we had to, youknow, make big decisions
together.
Fortunately, that's where wewere very in alignment in terms
of growth and not just growth,but I think it was also to
continue sort of this innovationand this kind of pioneering
spirit that our folks had set up, and we were able to do really
(17:21):
remarkable things.
Like you know, we started a newAVA, which is an American
viticulture area for folks whomay not know what that is, but
it defines a region within aregion, and it's very difficult
to do that.
We released wines that had neverbeen released, like Arnese and
Dolcetto, which were Italianvarietals.
People thought again, what arewe doing with those varieties?
(17:42):
But actually they turned out tobe successful.
And then you know just thewinery we did one of the first
Gravity Flow winery facilitieshere, which allowed the wines to
be even made in a more gentleway and in a larger volume.
So we weren't just making twobarrels or four barrels, but we
(18:03):
could make as you mentioned, wecould make tens of thousands of
cases of wine, but they alltasted as if they were in very
small batches.
So those were innovations.
(18:27):
And then, of course, the onethat I'm personally most proud
of is that we were able todesign and build out a beautiful
tasting room.
That was the first of its kindin 2012.
I think my husband and Idesigned our tasting room and it
was the first to like introducefolks to sitting down in the
Willamette Valley somewhere inwine country and actually, you
know, having service come to thetable and telling the story,
and it was more like it wasn'tto replicate what was happening
in California, but it was reallyto have an opportunity to
(18:51):
showcase and present theWillamette Valley as a wine
region and really justcontinuing that sort of you know
, what more can we do?
What more can we do and howmuch more can we elevate the
region?
And I think it kind of goes backto the decision to sell and to
who we sold to, because weweren't in any way desperate,
you know, it wasn't that.
It was the time felt right.
(19:13):
And the buyer came to us and itwas a champagne house.
You know that was very new tothis region and we thought, you
know, this could take Oregon tothe next level in terms of
featuring sparkling wines in ourregion.
So you know, yes, it was agreat sale and we benefited
financially from it, but we alsodid it with intention that this
(19:36):
would be a great thing for thefuture of the wine industry.
Ned Renzi (19:40):
Maria, in our industry we kind of joke.
You know who the pioneers arebecause they're the ones with
arrows in their backs.
And I sort of look at this youknow, being this ambassador for
Oregon nationally,internationally, and just sort
of making it into thisdestination, which it never was
previously, you really werepioneering.
What was that like and what didyou learn?
Maria Ponzi (20:04):
were pioneering.
What was that like and what didyou learn?
Yeah, I mean, it was justreally difficult, you know.
And I often think now about howI used to present the wines.
You know, if I was, wherever Iwas Tokyo or New York, chicago,
whatever it was that I wasalways, you know, the first was
an introduction of Oregon oreven like the United States and
like the West Coast, you know.
So I was like I had to teachthat part first.
(20:26):
I had to educate folks first onthat and like why the Willamette
Valley and what about theWillamette Valley?
And then we had to talk aboutPinot Noir because really in the
very early days nobody knewthis varietal Most folks were
drinking.
If they were drinking finewines in the 70s it was for the
most part it was, you know,cabernet.
Cabernet blends out ofCalifornia or Bordeaux's from
(20:47):
France, but this grape varietalwas unknown.
So I'd have to spend a bunch oftime talking about that
varietal and why it works wherewe are, and I always say you
know, and then I might get aminute in about Ponzi.
You know, I might get a minutein to talk about my brand, but
it was really just talking about, as you said, and really being
the ambassador for the state andthe region, and so I feel a
(21:10):
tremendous kind of still todaythis like ownership, in a
strange kind of awkward way,that I talk more about that than
I do about brand.
And you know, there was, yeah,hey, I had a lot of fun.
You know you talk about thearrows, but I kind of enjoyed
that.
I liked kind of taking the hitsbecause the hits made me work
(21:34):
harder, right, you know, when Iwas in Santa Barbara and people
would tell me again, this islate, like this is in the 90s or
2000s, what are you doing inSanta Barbara?
We make beautiful Pinot Noir.
You have no place here, andthey would literally throw my
wine bottle, you know, down thedrain while I'm there and I
(21:55):
thought, well, that was rude.
But then it was like, okay, wegot more work to do, you know so
then you just go in harder.
And you know so, then you justyou just go in harder and you
know French restaurants thatwould not even begin to allow
you to open your wines and um,and then going back with brown
bags and I'd be like, okay,let's just blind taste, you know
(22:16):
, and just not having that.
I, it was not.
I was not able to be um shy.
I had to have courage and befearless, and fortunately I kind
of thrive in that arena, so itworked out for me.
But man, yeah, there was a lotof arrows and my folks took a
(22:36):
ton of them, a ton of them, forsure there was always an added
layer of all of these fearlessuh things that you have to do.
Monica Enand (22:55):
But there's always an added layer of being a
woman, and we've talked aboutyou being a woman trailblazer.
Has it gotten better in thewine industry?
I assume there's more now.
Maria Ponzi (23:02):
And I mean, yes, it's death.
Oh my goodness, yes, it'sgotten so much better.
There's, there's actually awomen in wine organization now,
and you know there must be Idon't know a thousand members,
and it blows my mind, um, but Ido often think that, um, you
know, not that it's been said alot, but I think by Louisa and I
(23:26):
, being in the industry for solong, you know we were very
intentional about bringing womenin, you know, for positions in
my area, and Louisa was veryspecific about always trying to
find women to bring into thecellar over harvest time, women
to bring into the cellar overharvest time.
And, and you know, and to behonest, you know, some of them
(23:52):
didn't make it.
Because it is really hard,physical work, I mean, it is
really exhausting work and evenat a larger facility like ours,
was it's moving pallets around,it's using, you know, it's just,
it's, it's a lot of work.
Punch down is not easy.
I mean, as, as you said, Natthe early part.
Ned Renzi (24:10):
You know it sounds romantic until day two.
Maria Ponzi (24:11):
But reality sets in , reality sets in.
It's not quite as so.
I think we were very yeah, wewere very intentional about
always looking for women tointroduce this industry to, and
now it's gotten a little bitmore open and I think there are
more women winemakers in ourstate than anywhere else.
So that's really been fun.
(24:32):
Yeah, I mean it's still small,you know, we're still talking
little amounts of folks, but Ithink that it's changing.
Ned Renzi (24:41):
So that's good to see .
Maria, tell us about yourkeynote talk, the Four Ounce
Four.
Maria Ponzi (24:46):
Yeah, well, thank you.
So after the sale, you knowagain, you start to feel as
Monica expressed, you know, thatyou have this kind of loss of
identity when you've been doingsomething for so long, for
decades.
And I was sort of, you know,sitting there wondering, well,
what have I gotten out of mywhatever 40 years of wine?
(25:09):
What about it, you know?
And I really started reflectingon this idea of wine
appreciation and how our winecommunity lives in a certain way
, and I think it's because ofwine.
I've used already on thisinterview here the word
(25:29):
intentional several times and Ithink that that's ingrained in
the wine industry.
When you're producing reallybeautiful wines, you are
required to be intentional andthoughtful and to treat what
you're producing with atremendous amount of respect.
And I realized that when I pourwine I only pour myself about
(25:52):
four ounces.
I don't fill my glass to eightounces or even six ounces.
I really enjoy a small amountof wine in my glass so that I
can really appreciate it and Ican enjoy the flavors and the
aromatics.
And that is a wine.
That's because of a wine lifeand then I took it into life in
(26:14):
general and how in our culturewe tend to be.
So?
I don't know, we're just tendto be over consumptive and
excessive in a lot of our, in alot of what we do in our daily
habits, you know, and I wantedto kind of bring us back to this
idea of balance and, you know,just taking things a little bit
(26:37):
slower and being more thoughtfuland more intentional.
So the four ounce pour isreally about that.
It's about how to live a moremeaningful life with greater
intention.
I know growing up it was soimportant to us to have that
table, the table time, whichalways had a bottle of wine in
the center of it, and it'ssomething I want to share with
(26:57):
other people because I thinkwe're losing connection.
Ned Renzi (27:00):
That's a great message.
You know, on this identity thatyou touched on and Monica also
touched on, you know, right nowI'm actively working with two of
my CEOs who are exiting theircompanies and they're trying to
decide what they do for theirnext act.
Right, one's a more successfulexit, one's kind of not so great
exit, but it's kind of freeingthe founder up to move
(27:22):
potentially to another continentand really lay down new roots,
pick their next stack and decidewhat to do.
Like, maybe tell us a littlebit about what your process was
like for, how you thought aboutyour next stack.
And then also, I know you knowyou have a book coming up and
some other things going on.
Maybe tell us about that aswell.
Maria Ponzi (27:41):
As business owners or just executives, we are sort
of in a bubble of alwaysthinking ahead.
We're very driven, we tend tobe very driven people.
We tend to be somewhatimpatient sometimes.
Right, it's all about the next,the next, and I think, when
(28:01):
that has disappeared, it'sincredibly shocking.
You don't get the phone callthe next and I think, when that
is when that has disappeared,it's incredibly shocking to this
, right, you don't get the phonecall the next morning.
There's no text, there's noemails.
It's alarming and you feel likeyou kind of fell off a cliff.
And yet, and it felt like thatfor me.
And then there was a momentwhen I went wait a minute, let's
let's kind of embrace this andtake a second to like bring it
(28:24):
all back inside and reallyreflect on who you are.
And that is tricky too.
But I think, if you giveyourself the grace of time, of
which I did, I was also very Ifound myself to be very
vulnerable with my tightfriendship circles, not to
everyone, but to a lot of thegirlfriends, in particular that
(28:46):
who know me well and sharing,you know, kind of my
vulnerability and and that was,you know, that wasn't my, my
deal.
I was, I was the one I alwaysknow what's going on.
So being, I think, patient withyourself and being slightly
vulnerable and and being okaywith that helps to unlock this
other side.
And I think you know, trust me,man, I had a lot of tears.
(29:09):
I was feeling pretty low.
You know, I felt like notunless my business, but I lost
my family connection, my sister.
It was my business partner, Imean it was.
It was sort of a major moment,right.
But you hit bottom and everyonesays that you sort of hit this
moment of bottom and then youkind of re rebirth and you find
(29:31):
yourself again.
I had just finished a book, soit's called Pinot Girl, and so I
released that book, um, whichwas I've been some, I've been
working on it for 10 years.
It's a, a memoir, so it wasn'tlike it just happened.
And then I really starteddigging myself into the
community more.
And you know it's amazing,right, you sit on boards as
(29:54):
you're working your careers andyou're doing everything, and you
sit on those boards and you tryto give them as much time as
possible.
But, like, what can happen whenyou don't have a full-time job
and all that stress on you, howyou can give to nonprofits and
all these other tradeorganizations.
Man, I think I was on like fiveat one point and I went okay, I
got to back down on that and bemore intentional, but I started
(30:19):
a nonprofit over that first year.
That had nothing to do withwine, it had to do with
supporting foster youth andeducating them in high school so
we could increase thegraduation rate.
Because I was so tired ofseeing homeless issues and
addiction issues on the streetsof Portland and I was like we
got to get in front of thisproblem.
And so that has happened andit's tremendous.
(30:43):
So just like giving yourselfback to community, not just your
industry, but maybe even yourcommunity, the other community
that you live in and how tosupport others, because I think
we all have great talents beyondrunning our businesses and we
just need to unlock them.
Ned Renzi (31:02):
Maria, what's the name of your nonprofit?
Maria Ponzi (31:05):
Anthony's Circle and Anthony's Circle.
I founded it with a couplegirlfriends and the intention is
to bring a full-time coach ornavigator into the state high
schools so that there is someonewith foster youth on a 20, you
know, basically 24-7.
They're available on theweekends as well, if needed to
(31:27):
really support foster youth, whomany people don't really know
much about.
But their trauma is very, veryintense.
Mental health issues areextreme.
Most of them will.
If they even do graduate and inOregon there's it's a horrible,
(31:47):
it's like a 30% rate ofgraduation.
If they do graduate, theyusually find themselves
incarcerated, addicted andwithout homes, without jobs and
without a further highereducation.
So I was doing the researchwith my girlfriends.
We just like we need to.
We need to do something.
This is our city, this is ourcommunity and foster youth in
(32:09):
particular.
Learn more about that.
Where can they go online?
Anthonycirclecom.
And we would love your support.
Ned Renzi (32:28):
Yeah maybe Georgiana.
If you could put that in theshow notes, that'd be awesome.
Maria Ponzi (32:32):
Yep.
Monica Enand (32:33):
Absolutely.
You've also left out that youare now the director of the
Center for Wine Education atLinfield University and the
endowed chair of wine studies,so taking leadership and
supporting the next generationand doing that as well.
Maria Ponzi (32:48):
Yeah, that kind of came up last year.
I was doing all this work andhaving a lot of fun with my
keynote and then Linfield calledand said, hey, would you like
to come be our interim directorof the Wine Center?
And I thought, well, ok, well,you know why not, you know, so
you're like OK.
So I jumped into that and thenrealized that this was a whole
(33:11):
new world and a whole new waythat I could get involved and
again kind of give back to mycommunity and back to the
industry and and really supportyoung people who are interested
in getting into this industry.
And so, yeah, I've been in theposition now as permanent
director of the Center for WineEducation at Winfield for the
last six months and it's justbeen.
It's a whole new world.
It is not living on a vineyard,trust me.
(33:33):
It's going to a campus withyoung people.
It's very interesting, but I'mable to build out curriculums
and the classes and recruitinstructors.
We're just opening up amaster's, the first master's in
wine business leadership,because, again, as I mentioned,
I'm very passionate aboutbringing in wine business into
(33:53):
this arena, because for too longwe've been talking about how to
make wine and how to grow winegrapes, but we don't really talk
about how to keep them going,and I really feel we need to to,
you know, talk about how tosustain the industry that we
started.
So it's a it's a shift, but it,it, it definitely seems to be
making a lot of sense to me,even though it's a very
different.
Uh, yeah, arena.
Monica Enand (34:17):
Wow, um.
Well, it doesn't sound likeyou're slowing down too much,
but I guess you're probably notas busy as you.
Well, I have to say, if youhave not been to the Wine
Willamette Valley wine region, Ihighly recommend it I.
It is so beautiful and nice.
The Ponzi that Sanjay had is.
I had my husband's 50thbirthday party at your at the
(34:39):
Ponzi vineyards and the tastingroom, and it was just amazing
and lovely and what a gorgeousday and a gorgeous place to come
visit.
So I highly recommend that.
And, of course, ponzi wines arefabulous.
We drink them regularly and Ilove memoirs, so I cannot wait
to get a hold of yours, becauseyour memoir starts kind of at
(35:04):
the beginning of your parentsjourney.
Right, they weren't farmers,winemakers, business people, um,
they were just passionate humanbeings right, yeah, and just
very determined, yeah determinedwith three children.
Yeah, little kids little kids,little kids, little kids.
And making this all happen Likewhat an incredible story.
(35:27):
And I think, telling that storythrough your eyes of a little
girl, kind of growing up in thatand watching and what you
learned from watching yourparents, it's good for all of us
parents to think about how ourkids see us and the work we do,
and I just think it's it's an.
I'm so glad you took the timeto write the book.
(35:48):
I know you said you've beenworking on for 10 years.
I can imagine, um, but I'mgoing to go grab a copy.
Um, it's called Pinot Girl,written by and I should say it's
written by Anna Maria Ponzi.
I usually call you Maria, but,um, I usually call you Maria,
but your name is Anna MariaPonzi and I just checked it's.
(36:08):
Amponzicom is where you can getthe book.
Maria Ponzi (36:12):
Yeah, you can go just direct to my website,
amponzicom.
You can buy it also at yourlocal bookstores, but I really,
again, I'm very community-minded, so I like to either support my
local bookstore or the authordirect, and that goes for all
books.
I think it's interesting tomaybe mention that my father was
(36:34):
a mechanical engineer.
He worked for Disney and hegave that job up to start
something that he knew reallynothing about, and so it is very
inspiring and I think as youage and as you become a parent,
like you said, you know youreally do reflect back more on
your beginnings and how you knowhow they shape you.
And yeah, that's why I wrotethe book, because I felt like
(36:56):
that story needs to be told, andit's not just really about me
and my family, but it's reallyabout the original, all of the
original wine growers, because Ihave a deep respect for all of
those folks that tried somethingcompletely unknown.
Monica Enand (37:12):
Okay, Maria, if you're willing to stick with us.
We've got a couple questionsfrom the audience and in fact,
there are two questions from theother side of the country, both
, coincidentally, from SouthFlorida.
Juan Estefan, the owner ofSeven Mishi Wines, a boutique
wine distributed throughoutMiami, would like to know how
has the rise of private labelwines affected competition
(37:36):
amongst established wine brands?
Maria Ponzi (37:39):
Interesting question.
I I think the first time that Iwas approached to do a private
label I can't remember who itwas and I was astonished.
I was like wait, costco wantsto put their label on my wine.
Like wait, I don't get that,that's like you're going to put.
(38:00):
So, like you know, I alwayswent the other way.
I was like, if I was Prada,would you ask me to put, you
know, kirkland on my Prada?
You know handbag?
I think not.
So it was always like, again,it was an arrow, ned, it was
like a.
You know, I got to deal withthis.
I got to deal with this.
How am I dealing with this?
Because if I say no, I'm notgoing to get into Costco.
(38:22):
So those were very, these werevery big decisions for me.
I took them all very seriously.
And how has it impacted us?
I mean, I just, I don't know.
I don't like it.
I still don't like it.
I don't appreciate it.
I don't think that it respectsthe producers.
We are out here working veryhard for what we do.
(38:48):
We do it in our way, in our ownspecific way.
Every house makes winesdifferently, grows their grapes
differently in different areas,and they're very specialized.
And so when you're asked tomake something in a mass without
any kind of recognition, Iguess, just in general, I feel
(39:09):
like it's sort of disrespectful.
I think I still feel that way.
How has it changed it?
I guess I just said it.
You know, you feel that youeither have to sell out and do
it in a way I'm being reallyfrank or you just don't, and
then you have to kind of dealwith that, or you just don't and
then you have to kind of dealwith that.
I never did private labels whenI worked at the winery.
(39:32):
I only made or I should say weonly made wines for restaurants,
for private label restaurants.
At that time we were doing alot of what we call on-premise,
and those would be restaurantsthat had followed us and
supported us for many years andthen we would, you know, do a
couple barrels or whatever forthem.
Monica Enand (39:52):
And the second part of his question thank you
was besides Pinot, what othergrapes thrive in the Willamette
Valley in Oregon?
Maria Ponzi (39:58):
Yeah, well, pinot Noir is still our number one,
despite the warming trend thatwe are definitely experiencing.
Chardonnay is right there,although our Chardonnays are
going to be very different instyle than what I think a lot of
folks consider domesticChardonnays.
(40:18):
These are not heavy, heavilyoaked and full-bodied
necessarily, but ratherassimilate with French Burgundy
Chardonnays, which have just anicer balance of acid and
minerality, which lendthemselves really, I think, well
to food, to dishes.
(40:39):
And then we're seeing, you know, with a lot of the new folks,
new winemakers, just these new,kind of funny because they're
new varietals.
But they're old varietals to mebecause we tried them in the
early days, things likeSauvignon Blanc and Gamay
(40:59):
Gewürztraminer Riesling.
These are varietals that weplanted as a little family in
1969 and then switched it overbecause they weren't thriving.
But now again, with the warmingtrends, we're starting to see
new varieties here.
So things are shifting around abit, but I think predominantly
Pinot Chardonnay are still theking and the queen.
Ned Renzi (41:21):
Before I hit another audience question, I did have
one follow-up on that.
So, with the planet warming, Iwas reading articles just about
how the grapes sweeten in termsof concentrating.
So if you let them on the vinelonger they could have more
alcohol.
But if you harvest them earlyto reduce the alcohol they may
(41:42):
not have the flavor.
And I see, like some Californiagrowers that I know, have put
out a stake, you know where.
They are okay with a little bitextra alcohol to maintain the
flavor.
Some of the French are taking adifferent view, Like how were
you thinking about that like?
Or your sister from awinemaking standpoint?
Maria Ponzi (41:58):
Yeah, well, I mean, it goes back to fermentation.
So it's all about sugar, right.
So sugar converts to alcohol.
So again I can go back tohistory to share with you.
In the early days of winemaking, we would have an alcohol
content, alcohol by volume, oflike a 12%, in some years 11.5%
alcohol.
Today we will see wines thatare closer to 14% alcohol, and
(42:25):
so what that's telling us isthat the sugar is higher, right,
which means it's warming.
We're getting more sugar.
Acid comes from cool, from coolevenings, cool mornings, and
that's been really this sweetthing about Oregon, about the
Willamette Valley, is you wouldhave nice warm days but you'd
have cool evenings, so you had alovely balance of acid and
sugar.
You would have nice warm daysbut you'd have cool evenings, so
(42:46):
you had a lovely balance ofacid and sugar.
So I think that as we are movingforward, we're going to see
higher alcohol wines and tryingto manage acid, which, by the
way, for me, acid allows forgreater flavor profile as
opposed to just heavyoverweighted kind of high
alcohol wines, profile asopposed to just heavy
(43:11):
overweighted kind of highalcohol wines.
So I think that's the trick ofthe winemaker these days, is how
to balance the acid.
It's also maybe interesting tonote that, you know, with
sparkling wines, known asChampagne in Champagne France,
these wines, these grapes, arepicked early in the season, so
they're higher acid, so you'renot looking for high alcohol
with those wines.
So that's actually what'shappening right now as we early
in the season, so they're higheracid, so you're not looking for
high alcohol with those wines.
So that's actually what'shappening right now.
As we speak, in the WillametteValleys we're starting to slowly
(43:33):
start to pick those.
It's the initial pick of theseason for sparkling and then we
move into the deeper reds laterin the season.
Ned Renzi (43:43):
So Maria Esteban, a wine enthusiast and avalute
traveler from Miami, would liketo know.
Maria Ponzi (43:48):
It's like you choose what you love and what
(44:09):
you want the outcome to be.
So when it comes to, I'll talkabout Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir traditionallytraditionally meaning in
Burgundy, france, where it allbegan traditionally is aged in
oak.
Those oak barrels typically aremade out of oak from French
(44:30):
forests and that oak barrelallows the wine flavor to still
stay intact and only reallygives it a bit of a backbone to
it.
So we're not trying toinfluence the flavor of the
grape itself, we're just tryingto give it a little bit of
structure from the barrel, andso that would be the winemaker's
(44:51):
decision to use a barrel.
These days a lot of folks wanteven less oak flavor to their
wines and so they're usingconcrete casks which tend to be
similar to a stainless steelbarrel, which will not bring any
flavor profile at all.
So it really reduces that kindof structure piece.
(45:15):
But typically Pinot Noir is inyour French barrels.
Cabernet heavy reds aretypically in oak.
Heavy reds are typically in oak, but we are starting to see a
movement towards some of theconcrete for that, just because
they don't want so much of theoak influence.
And then whites are typicallyin stainless steel just because
(45:36):
they want to retain the fruitflavor and kind of the
minerality, that kind offreshness of the fruit, and
stainless steel allows that tohappen.
But Chardonnay I mean I'mgetting too complicated here,
but Chardonnay can go intobarrel as well.
If you like an oaky Chardonnay,that would be one that has
(45:57):
probably been in oak for a while.
So really, I mean, this is thebeautiful thing about wine is
that there's thousands andthousands and thousands of
different types of wine andregions around the world and
then you get to play withdifferent winemakers in
different houses that choose tomake it in different ways.
So you can just have so muchfun your entire life drinking
(46:19):
all kinds of wines and never getbored.
Ned Renzi (46:23):
Yeah, that's awesome.
I don't mind if you geek out, Iget into that and understanding
all the stuff, so I'm learningat a time.
In the conversation, maria alsohad a follow-on question Are
screw top bottles an inferiorwine in quality?
Maria Ponzi (46:38):
Absolutely not.
In fact, I would say it'sactually the opposite.
Ned Renzi (46:42):
That's what I had read too.
Okay, so that's good, not fakenews.
Maria Ponzi (46:46):
Yeah, no, this is actually really important to
note.
The twist-off closure actuallyseals wine very, very well.
This came to the industry gosh,maybe I don't even know now
20-some years ago when the corkwe were seeing a lot of cork
(47:08):
taint in our wines which wascausing spoiling in a lot of the
most expensive wines.
To be honest, it was very hardto control that because cork is
coming from the cork forests inPortugal and so forth, and this
was just something that happenedand they had to and they did a
(47:28):
lot of research in trying to fixthat problem.
But over the interim of whilethey were trying to repair the
problem there with their corkforest, people came up with
alternatives and so the Stelvanclosure came out in particular
and was a really lovely closure,especially for white wines,
because it would allow the winesto be preserved as the
(47:49):
winemaker wanted them to be.
So those wines are actuallymore fresh and fruity and
vibrant in a twist off than theywould be in a cork.
Now, I'll say that and then justkind of note that if you like
to age wines and not everybodyeven understands why you would
age wines and there's becoming,you know, less of a trend for
(48:11):
that but if you're aging wines,you typically would want to age
with a cork, just because itwill, it'll, it'll do.
It'll kind of help to releasesome of the air which you sort
of want over time from thebottle so it can age well.
So that's great for aging.
But for anything that you'regoing to drink within you know,
months, six months or so iswonderful with a twist off.
(48:33):
And I you should see my cellar,my cellar is predominantly
twist offs, except for my,really, you know, nice red wines
.
They're still in corks.
Closure.
Monica Enand (48:43):
Not a box.
You don't drink out of a box,do you?
I really can't, I really can't.
Thank you so much, maria, forbeing with us on the
Masterstroke podcast today.
Thank you, ned, for co-hostingwith me.
Ned Renzi (48:55):
My close with this was a good one.
I liked it.
Monica Enand (48:58):
Absolutely Added some interest to our lives.
So thank you for being here.
Ned Renzi (49:03):
I think I'm going to sign off early and pop a cork
and start happy hours after thisconversation.
Monica Enand (49:09):
At least you didn't start while we were
taping, so I appreciate that.
Maria Ponzi (49:13):
I was tempted though I was tempted, I love it.
That's great.
Monica Enand (49:18):
Well, thank you for having me, of course, and
thank you to our executiveproducer, georgiana Moreland.
That wraps it up for anotherepisode of Masterstroke.
Georgianna Moreland (49:31):
Thank you for listening today.
We would love for you to followand subscribe.
Monica and Sejo would love tohear from you.
You can text us directly fromthe link in the show notes of
this episode.
You can also find us on theLinkedIn page at Masterstroke
Podcast with Monica Enid andSejo Petrzak.
Until next time.
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