Richard Lee Ponzi

RICHARD LEE PONZI - FOUNDER

Born the third son of an Italian immigrant couple, Dick Ponzi was raised in Michigan. Typical to most Italian families, meals were considered sacred. Wine was always served and made at home. The flavors, sensations, and values of Dick's family traditions followed him throughout his life and professional ambitions.

Following high school graduation, Dick worked a variety of jobs, including employment with the Ford Motor Company, to support himself through college. He graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a Mechanical Engineering degree in 1959. He immediately moved to California where he worked in the aerospace industry as a structural design engineer. Later, he founded Seroc Corporation in Los Gatos, California, and designed and developed equipment to process light-weight, high strength building materials. He later held the position of project engineer for an engineering firm that designed and fabricated theme park rides for DisneyLand and DisneyWorld.

In 1969, he moved to Portland, Oregon and founded Ponzi Vineyards, one of the premier wineries in the state. From the first vintage in 1974, Dick has set the standards for enological and viticultural innovation. His mechanical engineering background has proven a great asset through his many years of winemaking. He fabricated machinery and winemaking techniques in his cellar now commonplace in many wineries across the globe. He planted some of the first Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley in the late '60's and the first plantings of Pinot gris in 1979. He has guided plantings of cool climate varietals throughout the valley since the early '70's, encouraging others to plant and build Oregon's quality wine industry. He still experiments with various clones and grape varietals today. His most recent successful finding are Italian varietals; Arneis and Dolcetto.

Dick was a founding member and first president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association. In 1987, he served as a founding Director of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board (now Oregon Wine Board). In the early years in Oregon, he worked as Professor of Engineering at Portland Community College to support the growing winery business and family.

In 1984, he and his wife, Nancy, founded Oregon's first microbrewery, BridgePort Brewing Company. Ponzi designed and fabricated the first microbrewing system in the state, a system which has since been duplicated several times over by microbreweries across America. In 1997, a culinary center in Dundee was founded by Dick & Nancy Ponzi, encompassing the Ponzi Wine Bar, a regional wine tasting room, and The Dundee Bistro, a local restaurant that features fresh Willamette Valley cuisine.

In 1988, Dick, along with associates, won a national competition for the design, construction and installation of the nation's first and only weather machine, located in Pioneer Courthouse Square in the center of downtown Portland. This structure draws vast crowds from across the state, along with tourists from all over the world, to watch its magical performance.

In 1988, The Wine Advocate, the world's premier wine trade publication, recognized Dick as one of the world's finest winemakers, one of only three Americans so distinguished. In 1996, in the Wine Spectator's 20th Anniversary celebratory issue Dick was the only Oregon winemaker included in an article spotlighting an international list of notable "People Who Made a Difference". He was honored as a wine producer who has innovated, perfected, promoted and lead the international campaign for higher quality wine. In 2003, Wine Spectator honored Dick among six American vintners who have mastered New World Pinot Noir. In 2004, Dick and Nancy Ponzi were acknowledged for their lifetime achievement in the Oregon wine industry with the ORVI (Oregon Vintner Award). In 2005, Dick was honored to receive Copia's prestigious Vintner of the Year award, recognizing his outstanding achievements in America's wine industry. Through nearly 40 years of numerous national critic reviews, Dick has established himself as one of the country's finest winemakers & a true innovator of the nation's wine industry.

Constantly inventing, designing, constructing, crafting, producing & innovating, Dick continues to work at the family winery while pursuing a multitude of other interests ... one he most treasures is time spent with his six grandchildren.

Nancy Ponzi - Founder
Luisa Ponzi - Winemaker
Maria Ponzi Fogelstrom - National Sales & Marketing Director
Michel Ponzi - Operations Manager

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