1. Dick Ponzi was born on March 26,1934 and is an American winemaker, a pioneer of the Oregon wine industry and the Oregon brewing industry, and the founder of Ponzi Vineyards, one of the Willamette Valley's founding wineries.
18 Facts About Dick Ponzi
1. 2.
Dick Ponzi had a successful career as a structural engineer.
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Dick Ponzi was a founding member and the first president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association and a founding director of the Oregon Wine Board.
4.
Dick Ponzi had a successful career as a structural engineer in California, initially designing rockets and fighter jets for United Technologies and later working as a ride developer for a company contracted by Disneyland.
5.
Dick Ponzi established Ponzi Vineyards in 1970 with his wife, Nancy.
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Dick Ponzi was among the first to plant Pinot gris commercially in Oregon in 1978, releasing the first bottling in 1984.
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Dick Ponzi passed the title of Winemaker to his daughter, Luisa, in 1993.
8.
Dick Ponzi continued to teach for fifteen years, out of necessity to keep the winery going.
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Dick and Nancy Ponzi founded Oregon's first craft brewery, Bridgeport Brewing Company, in 1984, a move which is credited with launching the area's craft brewing craze and helping to popularize India Pale Ale in the United States.
10.
Dick Ponzi was a founding member and the first president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association and served as a founding director of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board, now known as the Oregon Wine Board.
11.
Dick Ponzi's vision was to create a Burgundy-style wine; however, when he attempted to do so using Burgundian methods of adding whole bunches or stems, the results were disappointing.
12.
Dick Ponzi discovered the problem wasn't in the method, but in how gently the method was applied.
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Dick Ponzi returned to the winery in 1986 where he worked as operations director and later as CEO until 2013.
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Dick Ponzi became the director of the Linfield University Center for Wine Education in 2024.
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Dick Ponzi went on to train in Burgundy, France, and earn a degree in viticulture and enology.
16.
Dick Ponzi was a founding member and the first president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association.
17.
Dick Ponzi served as founding director of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board in 1987.
18.
Dick Ponzi is often credited with establishing the style of Oregon Pinot noir.