Maria Ponzi Fogelstrom

MARIA PONZI FOGELSTROM - DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING

Maria graduated from the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon in 1987. Her studies included a year each at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. Two weeks after receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree, Maria returned to Boston in search of her first “big” job. She was immediately hired as a sales representative for Goldhirsch Publishing Inc., promptly promoted to manager and, within two years, acknowledged as “Salesperson of the Year.” Along with the Rolex she was awarded, she received a tempting offer to manage the Southwest Regional sales office. Instead, she pocketed her savings, stuck the Rolex in her backpack and headed for a year of world travel and adventure, first stop: Borneo.

A year later, energetic and eager, Maria returned to the family winery and the position she left before college: working with her mother to market Ponzi wines. In 1991, she was hired as Director of Sales & Marketing. She is officially responsible for the overall promotion of Ponzi wines. She develops sales and public relation strategies, manages the winery’s national broker, maintains communication with wine critics, and assists in the production of all winery graphics, including the coordination and concept of label designs. She is also responsible for the management and success of the winery’s tasting room, cellar club, private event space (The Vineyard Home), the Ponzi Wine Bar and the family’s regional restaurant, The Dundee Bistro.

During the family’s ownership of BridgePort Brewing Company, Oregon’s first microbrewery, Maria assumed the role of its Marketing Director, and was responsible for all package design concepts, company communications and oversaw brewpub operations.

Now entirely focused on the winery, she remains active in promoting Oregon’s wine industry. She was the Promotions Chair of the Oregon Wine Board for nearly six years and was a founding Board Member of the national Women for WineSense organization. She was president of the organization’s Oregon Chapter for two years. She remains active with the Oregon Wine Board and holds board positions on Oregon’s Travel Information Council and the Portland Culinary Tourism Association. She is an active supporter of SOLV, a state organization committed to keeping its natural beauties clean and green, and also works with ORCA (Oregon Chardonnay Alliance), committed to educating and promoting Oregon’s Dijon-clone Chardonnay.

In 2004, Maria founded the first ever “Wine Walk of Fame,” recognizing the state’s visionary wine pioneers who put Oregon on the map as a world-class wine-growing region. Each honorarium’s name has been etched in stainless steel and now lines the courtyard in front of the Ponzi Wine Bar in Dundee. A record of each individual and their corresponding contributions has been placed in a binder held at the wine bar for guest perusal.

At current, Maria is involved in writing a book on the evolution of Oregon’s wine culture from her perspective as a child growing up in the industry. She and her Portland-based architect husband Brett Fogelstrom, reside minutes from the winery on 15 acres with their daughter, Lauren, son, Max and alpacas. Once an abandoned farm, the house and property now feature contemporary design and a large lake inhabited by wild geese, great blue heron and white swans.

She and her architect husband Brett Fogelstrom, reside minutes from the winery on 15 acres with their daughter, Lauren and son, Max. A full remodel of an abandoned farm, the house and property now feature contemporary design and a large lake inhabited by wild geese and great blue herons.

Dick Ponzi - Founder
Nancy Ponzi - Founder
Luisa Ponzi - Winemaker
Michel Ponzi - Director of Operations

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