Thru The Grapewine

Wondering About Life in a Wine Dynasty? Hear Maria Ponzi's Story

• Ute Mitchell • Episode 33

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Ever imagined growing up in a pioneering wine family and then navigating the complexities of transitioning from that world? Join us for a heartfelt conversation with Maria Ponzi, a luminary in the wine industry and philanthropy, as she shares her remarkable journey from vineyard to boardroom and beyond.

Discover Maria's insights into her family's entrepreneurial journey, transforming a humble winery into a global sensation. Hear about her own efforts in uplifting the family business and her emotional transition out of the wine industry, reflecting on career paths and pursuing new passions.

From her involvement in industry organizations to her latest venture, Anthony's Circle, empowering foster youth in Oregon, Maria's commitment to making a difference shines through. Join us as Maria shares her beautiful experiences and connections in the wine world, reminding us of the importance of meaningful connections and intentional living. So, grab a glass and let Maria's inspiring story enrich your day. Cheers to a life well-lived!

AM Ponzi


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Ute:

Hello again and welcome to the Through the Grapevine podcast with your host, uta Mitchell. You guys just really blew me away last time with your downloads. It was just amazing to just kind of see that number go up like that. I still am in awe of how this last year went. So thank you so much. I appreciate every single one of you.

Ute:

I also do have great news. My shop is now officially open for business, so you can order your hand-stamped bracelets, and if you're watching the video, this is what they look like and I'm going to have the link down in the show notes, of course. So we're going to get started right away. I have a super cool guest today and I have to tell you when I saw her for the first time in person, it was last year at the Women in Wine conference, and I was completely starstruck. And I was so starstruck, in fact, that I was too shy to come and say hello. And then I saw her again in McMinnville a few months later, and I think it was another Women in Wine function, and at the time Ali and I were sitting at a table next to hers and she was there with a few friends. And I'm still sitting over there going, oh my gosh, it's Maria Ponzi.

Ute:

And again too shy, but I did get over it and obviously I'm still starstruck, but I'm very, very excited and honored to have you here. So welcome on to Maria Ponzi.

Maria:

Oh, my goodness, thank you so much. It's so silly, by the way. I am so sorry. You're the star who's got the podcast. Come on, I don't know.

Ute:

You've been a pretty big person in this valley, here and beyond, might I add, wow.

Maria:

Anyway, thank you, it's very generous. Thank you Perceptions, everything We'll dig in. We'll find out exactly what it's really all about. Today. There will be no more starstruck. I don't know.

Ute:

I think it might actually be worse, but here we go.

Maria:

Thank you for having me and thank you for sharing your stories and interviewing so many wonderful people. I love what you do and I love just the exchange of conversation between women and I can say, women in wine, which again is such a kind of a special thing for me to be able to articulate. Yeah, you know, just say those words For sure.

Ute:

Yeah, Great to be here, excellent. Well, when I think of Anna Maria Ponzi, I think of Pino Girl. You did just publish your book in 2020 and I just finished reading it and I am. I think it's such a great book. It really kind of gives an insight into who you are as a person and who your family is, and I am really kind of in love with the beginning, where you talk about California. But what had me chuckling was that part where your mom was hoping you might someday become a glamorous opera singer.

Ute:

And then she called you an unattractive boy, she called infant and she tried to hide you from the public, which, honestly, today couldn't be further from the truth. So can you talk to me about what it was like to grow up a Ponzi, especially once you made that move to Oregon and your parents started the winery?

Maria:

Yeah, well, thank you. Yeah, I think. Well, my mother has always been a little bit, you know, romanced with the whole European culture. So I think, yeah, having an opera singer would have probably been her dream for me, and I think she was the first to address the honor Maria, which was quickly shortened to Maria. But you know, it's been quite a journey, to be honest.

Maria:

We started as you read the book, so we started with really very humble beginnings. You know, a little tiny little check and you know one bedroom house and and kind of grew it from there. I would say my parents really set the path right. They're incredibly driven individuals, always kind of ahead of their time in their vision and certainly inspiring and entrepreneurial. You know very enterprising people and I think that you know they have these three little kids and we were. You know we were expected to keep up the pace and you know I remember in the early days when I started working at the winery, people would always refer to the winery as like my father's winery, right, and it was always implied that there was really my dad's dream and my dad's business, etc.

Maria:

And yet I always sort of felt like it was never that way. It was always the family. It was truly always the family because, as the book demonstrates, you know that, that, you know, at the age of four we were out there planting the vineyard, and at the age of eight we were setting up a tasting room in the garage and you know I was being, you know, slugged around in the back of the Dotson station wagon selling wine for the first time out of the car. You know, in Portland. I mean, our whole lives, from the very, very beginning, were centered around the business and the winery and the vineyard, and so you know, it has never, really not been a part of our family. You know, it's just, it's, it's always been there.

Maria:

So, so I don't know what it's like to be normal. You know, and I think I've even kind of say that in the book like I always wanted to just be, I wanted to live in the suburbs, I wanted a house, I wanted the white picket fence, I wanted the dog, I wanted, like, the normal life. And yet here we were in the country and we had all these crazy farm animals and drinking goat's milks and and, you know, we had a winery. And back in those days, very unlike today, wineries were not a thing. We, I mean we were teased as children. I was actually bullied in middle school. We were, you know, dealing with people calling our parents drunks, you know.

Maria:

And so it's a very different world today when you, you know, when you look around and there are kids now you know of winery owners and they're like, ooh, fancy. You know you have a winery, you know it's like you have a label and you know it's it's. It's completely different. And so what's it like to be a Ponzi? And growing up, I mean, it's just like I think we've seen, I've been able to see kind of the whole, the whole deal of what it's like to just, you know, kind of come from from a lot of work and and then just, yeah, fortunately being able to see some great results out of that hard work?

Ute:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And you did write that that you were involved in all aspects of running the winery. So I'm assuming that you know obviously came with the territory. But were you at some point just given a choice about it too, you know, especially when you kind of started growing into those teenage years? Or was it just like, nah, this is what you do, girlfriend.

Maria:

No, no, yeah, it was more like no, there were no, there were no choices. There was no. Like you know which plight to work in the vineyard today. It was like, okay, you know another day in the vineyard or another day in the bowling line or another day, whatever it was, you know the warehouse, when we had a warehouse, but there were, there were never choices. I think it's very, it was very much like if you, you know, lived on a farm, a working farm, and you got up in the morning and you go and you milk the cows or you go feed the, you know feed the animals and and you're just you're, in it, you're working it yeah.

Maria:

Which is why again you know, going back to the book, why I think I speak to I couldn't wait to leave. As soon as I got those drivers license, I was like I'm going to go work at Baskin Robbins, man, I'm out, I'm out Anything. But you know dirt and dust and mud and being cold in the winery and being sticky from grapes I mean I just like didn't want to have a thing with it. But you know, all of that being said, I think you know I left for a while.

Maria:

I finally had an escape for a minute after college graduation, and so I was on the East Coast for about four years and then it's sort of like you miss it right and you're sort of thinking back and I don't know if this happens with everybody, but there was this moment of like huh, where am I now and what am I doing and is this really meaningful? And gosh, I really miss kind of. I kind of miss harvest, right. I kind of miss that excitement and and the picking of the grapes and, of course, my mother, these big, you know, harvest parties and just the tradition around that and being in touch. I, you know, and I think, without really knowing it, without really recognizing it, the disconnect with the land and that sounds maybe like poetic or what I mean, it's not like that. It's just like when you grow and this sounds very cliche and stupid, but you know, when you do, when you grow up on land, in farmland, it really does become a part of you and become very attached to seasons, you become very attached to the weather, you just it's just inherent. But I think I miss those things from living in the city.

Maria:

And then when I came back, it was sort of like I I was very fortunate again to come back at a time in the industry when it was, you know, the early nineties and things had just started to kind of they were starting to happen and and I definitely, being a very independent person myself, I didn't want to just come back and like, be, you know, hanging out with my folks or whatever. You know what I mean. Like I wanted a job, I wanted to have a purpose, and so, again, it was a great time because the industry was being acknowledged and recognized and so, therefore, there was a moment for, you know, more marketing and more promotion and actual sales of the product, which hadn't really been the case. I mean, we'd always been trying to expose the industry, but it really didn't really come to light until like the early nineties of when we were really started to sell wine. So there's a place for me, and then it was very natural for me to come into that spot.

Ute:

Oh, I love that. And I do see that, I think you know, even not growing up on land like that, I'm, you know, german. So I was born and raised in Southern Germany, and and the longer I'm gone from Germany, the more I miss it and the more I feel, you know, that that pull to be there and I know it's not going to happen, not until I retire anyway and so I can definitely feel that that sense of belonging that you might not have had and I think such a natural progression too, you know, to want to get away and then at some point remembering wait, this is home.

Maria:

And I feel that and I feel that pull, and yeah, that's just everything Like it's like that, you know, I think it's just the smells, right, it's like you know, you, you know, if you're around harvest time, the smell of the fruit and the crushing of the grapes and and just the birds and like the whole, that whole thing. When you're really involved in it, the way that we have been involved in it, you realize it's a really special thing. But it does take a long time for you to get that, you know, because you've got to go. So, like you said, you've got to go sew your oats and kind of find out what's out there. And I mean I hell, I was selling advertising which was about as boring as possible.

Maria:

It was incredibly boring, but but but you know, you know I learned it a hell of a lot, you know, and I think that's the one thing that I've always encouraged. I have two kids and you know I definitely have always encouraged the, the get out. You know, got to get out and go see what else is in the world, and until you really figure out where you want to end up, you know, and sometimes we never know.

Ute:

I mean we got to keep going, yeah, yeah for sure, keep going on the journey. Hold on your kids now.

Maria:

My kids. I have kids really close together, which is a whole other chapter we should talk about. But my kids are 15 months apart. I have a daughter who's 26 and my son is almost 25.

Ute:

Okay, yeah.

Maria:

So adult children like mine.

Ute:

Yeah, yeah, mine are. My eldest is going to be 29 in August, oh my god. And then I have a 22 year old and a 20 year old and, yeah, it's a whole new thing because I am an empty nester and you know, I no longer have kids in the house and one of my kids just moved to Germany with her entire family, and so I'm kind of getting over this whole. Oh my gosh, it left me.

Maria:

Well, I do find myself very envious of some of my friends who are now coming back. Yeah, and I'm like oh dang lucky you, right, yeah yeah, I feel that.

Ute:

So I do remember visiting the old tasting room long time ago and eventually you moved and you opened your current tasting room, which is such a gorgeous and elegant place, and I do have it in good authority that you get quite a few rather famous guests there now and then, and you and your sister were the ones taking the winery to that next level. Basically, can you talk about that process a little bit? Was there a goal that you set for yourself, a strategy, or was it like, ok, let's go and jump in and do this thing?

Maria:

I mean, everything has been very thoughtful, very intentional, our entire growth of that winery. You know, it really came to the point where we were on the original property, where you were, and it was a moment of the realization that all of us so there is myself and my sister and then my older brother was involved at the time and we had all got married, we were all having kids and all of a sudden, and we were all working at the winery and there was a moment of like gosh, you know what, this little winery, at 10,000 cases, is not going to work for us to raise these four families. So what are we going to do about it? Who wants to leave? Well, nobody wanted to leave. So it was like, ok, well, if we're all going to be in this thing, we're going to have to get real about it and we're going to have to grow this. And that was a scary moment.

Maria:

I mean, our family has done so many things together. You know, we also started the first craft brewing company, bridgeport way, back in 1984 and then our restaurant in 1999. So we've always done things sort of as a pack and made these very big decisions together and sat down and said, ok, how are we going to do this and who's in and who's out? And when it came to, are we going to grow the winery? Everyone was like, yeah, let's do it, but if we're going to do it, we need to do it well.

Maria:

And I think that this piece is really important is that, you know, because we were at the very beginning of this building this industry, we had it ingrained in our DNA that whatever we did was not just about us and our you know, our personal selves or the family, but it was really always about the region and the industry. And how do we elevate and really, you know, bring the industry up into a global level? Right, that was always paramount, from like day one, like we're not just going to have a little hobby winery, we're not just going to play winemaker, we're going to do this for real. Right, those very high ideals were set in place at the very beginning. And so, when it came to growing the winery, it's like well, if we're going to do this, we need to do it right, which means we need a gravity flow facility and we need a state of the art tasting room and visitor center. And so that meant money. Right, that meant like really fully investing in this future. So it's huge decision for us, really good decision.

Maria:

I mean we were sitting in my office with my brother and sister and we were like, well, I don't know, things are pretty comfortable.

Maria:

You know it's like you know, you're like we got this down. Wine is selling. You know, we were selling out every year and it was a beautiful thing and it was like you know you're jumping off into the unknown. But we did it and I think we did it in a really, and we did it well, you know, we bought the property, we planted the vineyard and then we built the winery and then, you know, I was hanging out at the original property for five years until we built the tasting room and the offices.

Maria:

So it was a slow movement. You know, it wasn't like we just dumped everything all at once, but we did it slowly and, again, I think it with a lot of thoughtfulness and a lot of intentionality. You know, the tasting room in particular, I wanted to make it world-class. You know, like I did want it to, I wanted to bring people in. I didn't want it to be a barn, you know, I wanted it to be like, ok, wow, this is something spectacular. And seeing people walk up those stairs the first day, I was just like, oh my God, what's happening here?

Maria:

You know, because there's never been anything quite like that, at that level of, like you said, elegance and I do believe it's very elegant and because my husband and I designed and built that together and that was a really special project in itself. And also, I think, having really so many years 30, some years of understanding a tasting room and hospitality and really knowing my vision of how I wanted to execute really beautiful hospitality, it was really fun to do that project. It was one of my greatest moments really. So I'm glad that it's still there and you know, again, we no longer own the winery, but it really does give me a huge sense of pride in terms of what we were able to accomplish and I'm really glad we did it. You know, we did everything that we wanted to do and I feel really fantastic about that.

Maria:

Like you know, we set a certain standard. We brought people in, not just to the wine industry, frankly, because again, we're sort of in Sherwood, you know, we're not in Dundee, so we're not near the domains, right, we're on the other side of the hill and so it was a little bit odd to have such a huge place like that. But because of that, I think what happened is that we brought people into agriculture too. Right, we kind of forced them to come through the apple orchard and through the berries and through the cherry trees and kind of like go oh wow, this is where things happen out here.

Ute:

You know what I mean.

Maria:

And so I love that. About it, too, is that we were exposing people to agriculture and this beautiful bounty that we have here in the Lama Valley, so it hit a lot of buckets for me in a way.

Ute:

Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. I do remember walking in there for the first time after, you know, years ago, having been to the old place, and we're going well, let's go, yeah, let's go to Ponzi, and then walking up the stairs and walking into the building and going, oh wow, I kind of feel underdressed a little bit.

Maria:

Yeah, it really freaked people out. But I always told my staff and I think for the most part we achieved I don't know we tried to but was like, hey, we can have this really beautiful facility but we are still real. You know, I want each of us to still be grounded and real and be friendly and all those things. And some people you know what I mean staff is staff, but like some people really harnessed and got that. And then there were people that just like I don't know, they wanted the pretense, which was not what the. You know that was not the intention of pretense. It was really to make a statement that these wines and this place is some of the best in the world and we needed to do that through the facility. We felt that we needed to do it through the facility at that time.

Ute:

Well, I love it. I think it's a beautiful place and obviously it's wonderful wine, yes, so how much were your parents involved in or in this whole process once you and your sister took over? Was there just some input or were they actively involved in growing the company?

Maria:

Yeah, no, I know I mean I laugh because I'm like shoot, if they were, they probably would have told us to slow down. You know they really weren't. I mean Louisa and I were pretty much the team for a long time there and really I mean we worked really well together. She was, you know, very much involved in production and focused on, you know, the vineyards and the wines and so quality focused in that arena. And then, you know, my zone was all. Everything else was really the, you know, the brand, all those things, the marketing, the sales, all those things that come with that, and then overall operation and she and I really shared operations too because, again, we were sort of always built that way to work together.

Maria:

And then my folks, dick and Nancy, you know they live, they live on one of our vineyards, so they're nearby. In fact we would laugh because you can see their home from the wineries. So we were always like, oh, they're checking us out. But you know they have always been incredibly generous and very just, have always been so graceful with this transfer of authority and direction and ownership, and I think it's kind of the heart of who they are.

Maria:

You know my dad was a teacher for many years he taught mechanical engineering, so he's really a guy who loves the journey and loves to teach and then and then step away. And my mom, you know she's just lovely and has, she's a force of her own. So you know she had plenty of things she was on working on and you know she's still my mom, so she would come in my office and like snoop around and make sure everything is in order. But no, no, no. I think that they just kind of were feeling very confident in in what we were doing, and it was only when we would have really big decisions, you know, like be it a label change or something like that, that we would definitely want to sit down with them and kind of get their their feedback.

Ute:

Yeah, for sure so, and you stepped away completely. After the sale, is Luisa still making wine at Ponzi?

Maria:

Yeah, yeah. So with the, with the transaction, the French saw me as just CEO. They didn't. I don't know if they realized that I had all these other hats. So when they heard CEO, they were like, ok, you get out of here as soon as possible, and yet, of course, wanted to retain the winemaker. So Luisa is still there. I I'm not sure how long she'll she'll be there, but, yeah, the wines will be fabulous. And as long as she's there, yeah for sure. Yeah, so it's a little bit of a transition, I think, for us to his sisters. You know, just like that, we're on difference. You know we're on totally different planes right now. Yeah, yeah.

Ute:

So tell me a little bit. I know I'm throwing in an extra question here, but tell me a little bit about what was your transition like once you you transitioned out of Ponzi and then decided you know now what I'm going to do. How did you decide? You know what was next.

Maria:

Well, I still don't know what I'm going to do. Well, you know, you know I guess I've said this before, but it's you know, in terms of the decision to sell, you know that was a very, very obviously huge decision, which was one that we made with the family, and actually the third generation to was involved with that decision. So it was a big decision. And then, you know, for me I wanted to make sure that it was a really great transfer. I mean, I wanted to make sure everybody was OK with it, meaning, you know, distributors, hostel, or you know my customer base, my staff.

Maria:

And then when it all happened, you know there's something very dramatic about that next morning of when you transfer the ownership to somebody else and you wake up in the morning and it's like, oh my God, there are no texts and the phone's not, you know, ringing and there are no emails, and it's just kind of like whoa and I assimilate it to like if I was to ever lose like 50 pounds, you know, just like huge relief off my body physically. It was because I didn't really realize. Well, I did realize that there was a tremendous amount of pressure and so that was lifted and it was great kind of. But then it was also very like this feels strange too. So there's a lot of things that go through the process of when you leave something that you've been doing for literally was over 30 years, 35 years. So I'm still, think I think I'm still in that zone of like trying to figure out what's next.

Maria:

I, we went week, my husband and I took a year and we walked around and traveled here and there for you know, weeks at a time, which was heavenly. But then it was like, yeah, this isn't it?

Ute:

you know, I gotta do something.

Maria:

Right and I really want to do more. I'm not ready to just hang it up and and there was I think there's some grief in there that I didn't expect to have. But then it happened some deep kind of sadness about just departing, but then a lot of really cool reflection on self. And I've never had that luxury and who does ever really have luxury of taking time to just like stop and just think back on everything that you've done and every you know, and then actually taking it down a little bit more and going well, you've done all this stuff, what have you done? Well, what have you enjoyed? What would you like to do?

Maria:

I mean, this is incredible luxury that I have right now. And I mean I just, yeah, I get kind of emotional about it because it's like I never thought I'd have this privilege to just reflect back and that's what I'm doing now. But you know, in the meantime I'm involved with five boards. I'm very active on five boards. I started a profit I've got. I started a keynote that I'm super excited about and we're going to talk about that.

Ute:

I'm just doing lots of stuff.

Maria:

I feel like I'm a hummingbird. I'm like. I'm like this is all over the place and I'm not like it and I'm waiting for myself to land Like it's like where are you going to end up?

Ute:

And I don't even know.

Maria:

Right, you know, I don't really know, because I think, like again, with reflection, you find that, gosh, you know, maybe I do like to do a lot of stuff. You know, I'm not, I'm not a singular person. Yeah, and realizing that maybe that's okay. Right, you know, it's like you, you know you you're doing so many things to yourself and I think that that's a really I think it's okay because I think we're for so, so long we're, we're taught that you need to be the best at whatever one thing that you're going to focus on, and not everybody's built that way.

Ute:

Right and.

Maria:

I think it's okay. Yeah, I think we can do a lot of have great impact and make change and do all these amazing things and not be focused on just one career or one focus.

Ute:

Do you do? You know how much I love that you're saying this, because I definitely have felt like this pull into different directions and I'm trying to, you know, figure out what it is that I exactly want. But then I'm realizing, well, I don't want just one thing, you know, and that's okay. And, and I think especially you know my transition I almost feel like yours, with stepping away from the winery, might be a little bit compared to my, my own right now, as I'm transitioning to empty and Esther, where I wake up in the morning and I don't have kids all around all the time, and and you know, it's me, and it's my husband, and it's my life, and what do I want to do with it? And, and guess what?

Maria:

It's 15 different things and it's okay, and you know and it's so fabulous, right, I mean, it's so fabulous to have this time in your life to really take that in, and and life is what it is while you're in it, right? Yeah, I mean, you know it's not like oh, I figured it out, now, this is what I'm going to do. It's like what are you doing right now that's bringing you joy? Yeah, and it's like okay, yeah, let's, let's listen to that. Let's listen to that and move into that and like and honestly, my husband is a very singular guy, like he just he's an architect and he's a builder and he's incredible, so talented that that is his thing, yeah, you know, and, and he loves it, and he's like man, I think you need to focus, I need to focus, and I'm like dude, I can't like I have to have 10 things in order to focus, Right, yeah, and I think it's like but it's like, it's okay, it's okay, I'm realizing that it's okay.

Ute:

Okay, I love that and we are actually going to go right into that next question, because you are on or and have sat in the past too, on every like wine related board imaginable and you've traveled the world, and that actually did include a trip with former governor, former governor Kate Brown, um to Asia. So one, what was that trip all about? What was it like and and how you know? I mean, just reading about it all makes me dizzy. Like I'm on your website and I'm like, oh my gosh, I did this and this and this and this. How do you stay organized, you know, how do you like, even though you say, you know I'm the hummingbird, I need to be all over the place, but you've got to kind of keep it all together somehow, right?

Maria:

Yeah, I don't know how I keep it together. I don't use software. I love my list. I'm a list girl. I always happen. Well, let me.

Maria:

I mean, the first thing is, yeah, that was a trade mission with the governor. That was years ago and that was through my work. Gosh, I don't know if I was a commissioner at that time, I forget what board I was on to been able to do that, but that was fascinating. So that was, we were in Asia and you know, I've always been, again, just so privileged to be, you know, an ambassador to this wine industry and that was really my role there was to share about our wines and how beautiful they are and how successful the industry has been. So that was really fun.

Maria:

And then, you know, I've served on, I mean, I've been around for a long time. So I served on the Oregon Wine Advisory Board, way back when I had my babies, I was hauling them into meetings and Salem in their car seats, you know but way back when. And then, you know, I started the first women in wine sense chapter when I first came back. Cause I really believe, you know, I believe in back in those days the women in wine was all about, you know, drinking wine in moderation and using as a health, as a health benefit. So I believed in that. I was involved in that.

Maria:

I've been recently involved with Oregon Wine Grower's Association, which is the advocacy arm of the wine industry, which I find to be very, very important group which we need more women leaders involved with that, because that is the forefront of the wine industry in terms of what's happening out there public policy you know what's happening with taxes, how are people viewing our wine industry, and there's some real serious issues that we need to be a part of. And I'm still a part of it, even though I've stepped away in an active role of operating a winery. I still believe that we need to keep our eyes on that. Women in wine you know recently, just recently joined that board and I've been very happily working on these mentorship program which, again, I believe in. I just like I'm always blown away about how many women there are in this industry now and I wanna just keep that going and I don't know what else am I doing.

Ute:

Oh.

Maria:

I'm a commissioner on the travel Oregon for travel Oregon, so I have the opportunity of working with other commissioners in the state tourism office directing tourism to our state that I've been a part of for a few years. So I dance around into many things and I think it's again, it's just kind of part of the DNA at this point. You know it's like, you know it's not all about you, it's like what more can you do, what more can you give to the industry, to the region, to the state to make things better? And I truly believe that. So I'm definitely a believer of spreading myself out as needed to do those things. I'm also involved a lot in land use, trying to protect the farmland, which is a constant battle as we have the encouragement of development on our farmland, protecting the UGB, which, of course, has had moments of recently of being shifted around. So I'm active as much as I possibly can. And, like you, I don't have kids anymore. So I mean I have kids sorry, right, not in the house.

Maria:

But they're not under my feet, right? You know I mean and, oh my goodness, you know it's another amazing opportunity to do good things with your time, yeah.

Ute:

So maybe you can tell me, because this feels like a next step for me is I'd like to sit on a board somewhere and I did try with women and wine. I did eventually not make it. In this year Certainly gonna try it again. But how did these boards, you know, happen Like? Did you approach them? Did they?

Maria:

did some of them approach you and asked you yeah, it's kind of been a mix, like the travel Oregon, travel Oregon man. I was after them for years, decades. I wanted to be on. That was like my. I wanted to be that on that commission for a long time. So I went after that one pretty hard. The wine board or the OWA. I think I also jumped in on that one.

Maria:

I can't remember, you know, it's like everything though it's the network, and hearing things like that, like right now you're telling me this, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna write you down. I'm gonna write you down Because I think it's like, truly, sometimes we get siloed. There's only so many people that are at the helm of a lot of these organizations and, to be frank with you, I don't think it's very healthy, especially now we have so many new, younger people that are coming into the industry and their voices need to be at the front. And I just voiced this earlier last week with OWI. I'm like you know, we need to find leadership. We need leaders, we need people who are not satisfied with just producing their whatever it is, their small thousand cases or less wine, and we need to get them involved. They need to come on in and invest in the industry.

Maria:

So I'm hoping that if anyone's out there and you're listening and you wanna be a part of Oregon Wine Leadership, I hear you. We need great leaders and there are so many amazing women out there that we just don't know about. So I get through women in wine. I'm able to kinda see who's out there, but it's good stuff. We need more of them. Yes, you heard it here. I heard it. I wrote it down.

Ute:

Oh, I mean the listeners. But yes, thank you Okay, the listeners and everyone else oh okay, so then let's talk about the For once poor. You did this talk during the Women in Wine Conference and you talked about creating a long, meaningful and impactful life. Can you talk to me about how this concept of For once poor came to fruition for you?

Maria:

Yeah, well, a couple things hit. I think One was the reflection part, was the okay, you're no longer operating a winery, so what did that teach you? You know, okay, you had pretty much your whole life in that industry. What did you learn from that? And how can that apply to people outside the industry? Ooh, break outside the bubble, earth shattering, mind blowing. There are people outside the wine industry.

Maria:

You know what I mean and I was like really thinking about that. I'm like you know, there's so much that I've learned about the wine industry because of being in it so intimately. And I have this, you know, real deep respect and love for the beverage. But I also have a tremendous amount of affection for the culture that wine creates in terms of gathering, in terms of conversation and I mentioned in the keynote but like the table and bringing people together at the table and really building relationships. So there's that part of it, so there's a reflection part of it.

Maria:

But then there's also this other piece that happened in January when I was at the Oregon Wine Symposium and I heard these horrible statistics about how wine drinking has really become reduced in our country and the alternative beverages, non-acoholic beverages and wines are really taking a leap. And you know I'm fully aware that things go up and down, but at the level that I've seen in the last year, it's kind of disheartening to me and it felt like somebody needs to tell the story of wine again. Like what's going on? Like wine is this beautiful thing. Maybe we're not taking enough time to really consider what this drink is about, because you know what and I say it in the keynote but it's like for me it's not just another spirit, it's not beer, it's not whiskey, it's not bourbon. Wine is something incredibly special when it's made in the way that we make it here in our valley at least, and in most places.

Maria:

But I think that for so many Americans that we just consider wine as another alcoholic beverage and so we're just tossing it back and we're just drinking it and we're just jamming on and it's all about, like I don't know, a reward at the end of a tough day or whatever the hell, and it's like no, no, no, no, no.

Maria:

Let's think about wine as a part of a healthy way to live, as a part of nourishing your body and caring for your body, and actually as part of an experience, as a positive experience, and I know that the I know you get this because you've got European roots, but so many Americans, I think, don't even have the idea of that, like the most basic idea of how wine can be enjoyed, and so that's part of why I came up with this, the Faroats Pour, which is about really being more intentional with everything that we do, all the choices that we make in our life, and that includes how we are eating. Like, what are we eating? How are we eating? Are we eating while we're reading the phone? Are we talking to somebody across the table, or are we just stuffing our face? Are we really thinking about the flavors of the food or are we just like chowing it down, cause I love ravioli? Like, are you thinking about the flavors to ravioli? Like, are you? And it's the same with wine, and that's what wine taught me.

Maria:

You know, wine taught me slow down, think about the flavors of the wine, really enjoy the flavors. Was that an enjoyable glass of wine, you know? Or was that just okay? But just to be more thoughtful, I assimilate it to wine. But again, I think it can be implied to almost anything you do, you know, in a relationship, like, how am I in this relationship? You know, self reflection, like how am I speaking to my child? How am I spending time with my husband? How am I, you know, in everything that you do just to slow down and be more thoughtful, and I think like these are very basic. This is a basic message, really. The message is to slow down and be more thoughtful and be more intentional.

Maria:

But yet I feel like in this hyper paced world that we live in, you know, we wake up and we grab the phone. It's like the first thing we do is like, you know, jolt to the system. What's going on? What do I need to do? Who's coming? What's happening? Instead of like, chill out, breathe in, look outside the window oh, my God, it's a beautiful day. Don't look the fucking sorry, I'm not gonna look at that. Look outside. It drives me crazy when people are like oh, it looks like it's gonna be. Look outside, open the window, feel it it's gonna rain or it's not. Smell it. You know, you're a gonadian, so you know what it smells like when it's gonna rain. You don't need that phone. But I mean just like think about how we're living and slow down. And so that's my message about keynote in my keynote address, and I'm hoping to get that message out because I really I feel like, yes, we all know these things, but I think that sometimes we need to be reminded of these things.

Ute:

We do need to be reminded and I think because we do live in such a fast paced world. You know, all you need to do is go into a restaurant, just a regular restaurant, and you are presented with a check halfway through your meal, and they'll always say no rush, no rush. But you know what are you gonna do? I have my check in front of me, I'm not gonna rush. You know, is it okay for me to order another beverage, or do I need to just like be done?

Maria:

Do you feel like because again, you have German roots? I mean, I feel sometimes honestly like if my kids are home and we're going to dinner, I like I wanna tell the server, just so you know we're gonna be here for two hours.

Ute:

Like. I just want you to know this table.

Maria:

We're gonna hang here, so you know. So we're gonna be here. Do not bring me my salad and my main at the same time and like my number one thing right is like they bring the check but then they stand it up. Right, they stand it up. I think you didn't see it, it's right down in your face, ready to go at any time. So, yeah, these are the things that I would love to try to move into another direction and remember that that dining moment, especially when we're going out, those are special moments, like those should be special moments. We spend, shoot, we spend $100 or more, right, and we're going to dinner these days. I mean we're spending. It's not cheap, it's not like going to the diner, right, I mean like let's go ahead and like make that something that's very special, and so we just like gotta have food, gotta get out in 30 minutes, and I will say it is definitely something that I have, even after 23 years here.

Ute:

I still haven't gotten used to really, because when I'm in Germany, I have to ask for a check when I'm ready. This could be three hours after I've arrived, and I am the one calling my server to please bring in my check, and at that point they don't even have, like, the check ready. Most of the time they write down what you ordered throughout, and so there's just this whole conversation around it and it's yeah, it's very, very different.

Maria:

It's a totally different approach. And you know Denmark, I've sold wine in Denmark and it's getting anyway, and it's the same thing. It's like they expect you to be in that room for four hours. Yeah, I mean, that's it, you're going to be there. The duration and sometimes it does feel uncomfortably long because we're not used to it, right, right, I mean, I think when Americans do have that experience, they go to Europe and they're sitting there and they're like where the hell's?

Ute:

the check. We've been here for an hour Right, and then it's gone.

Maria:

That's kind of how to get on the hook and then they don't know how to manage it. But it's like, look, you're there to use that table and that linen and the stem and the whole thing, that experience they created for you. They want you to really soak it in.

Maria:

And I would love to move in that direction. I believe that the American culture needs a little bit more of that. So I don't know, and I'd love to get rid of the UPC or whatever. The scan code, oh right, the QR codes, qrs, the QR code to like. I'm like I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to sit down at the dinner and then pull out my phone again Because for me, I've gone. For me, I'm being very intentional, like I don't want to see my phone. This is the dinner time, this is the time with whoever I'm with. This is where I'm going to take my time. I don't want to QR man.

Ute:

Right.

Maria:

Just tell me what the specials are.

Ute:

What the hell? What's your voice? Come on, oh gosh, I love it. Yes, all right, moving on, you also teach a 60-minute wine master's class. What is this class?

Maria:

And who is it for? This is very organic. This is something that I just had. A couple of people actually just call me or contact me and say, hey, actually the book kind of initiated it. Hey, I read your book. I'm really excited about coming to the Lamp.

Maria:

Valley I've never been there before. Would you? Is there like a way I could get an orientation or a master's class? I was like, well, I mean, I guess I could do that, I don't know. So I've kind of put something together. So I'm actually going to do one tomorrow. It's just 60 minutes, but I'm going to do another one that's 90 minutes, for another group coming in September. It's a larger group and I mean it's nothing too fantastic other than just sharing the story of what we're doing here, and I was like am I a master of wine?

Maria:

Am I a master of Oregon wine? Not really, I don't have a pin, but I definitely know enough about it and I felt like, well, this will be a fun. Again, it's a hummingbird. I'm like this is fun.

Ute:

Let's check this out. Let's check it out. This is the Lamp.

Maria:

Valley. So we'll see, I love that and I miss that, and I actually miss that part about having the winery and not being able to show the story, because I did that every day for years.

Ute:

Yeah, this will be fun for me. Ok, I love it. So your big project, however, that I've read about has really nothing to do with wine and it's called Anthony Circle and, per the website, it's a nonprofit that provides critical support to foster youth to ensure high school graduation. So you're one of the founders of Anthony Circles. Can you tell me a little bit about how it started and what you're hoping to accomplish? Of course, high school graduation, but what's the process?

Maria:

Yeah, well, beyond wine, I've always tried to have some interest outside of wine whenever possible, and I have a very good friend who was a foster youth and she was adopted, so she introduced me to CASA ages ago. Casa is court-appointed special advocates for youth, for foster youth, and so I sat on their board for six years and then I moved over to an organization called Project Illuminate, which is an organization that allows foster youth to shop for free. Because it's one of these things with foster youth they move from place to place so frequently that they often don't have clothing that fits them. They certainly don't have clothing that is the newest and the greatest, and so when they're heading back to school, trying to give them a boost of confidence. So that was Project Illuminate, a Salamette board, and then the founder of that board and my girlfriend.

Maria:

We all started talking about we need to do more, and for me it was really looking at Portland and what's happened to this beautiful city and seeing so many people out on the sidewalk and knowing that many of those people have come from foster, being under the foster care state care and then, once that expires, at age 21, they really don't have a safety net, and so many of those young people are end up being incarcerated, running into drugs and addiction issues and that's the decline starts to happen.

Maria:

Well, it's happened even earlier, because I believe that youth needs, they need help.

Maria:

Well, we're moms, so you know, and I know, that you need to have a guiding force along your entire journey, somebody who you can confide in and that can help you throughout all the decisions you have to make in your life, and certainly in the latter part of your teenage years into graduation, if you're going to go to school. I mean, if you're going to go to college or if you're going to go to a trade school, but those final years are so important. So the idea is to bring a full-time educational navigator into the public school system. That will be with foster youth only, so just this segment of our society that has really nobody watching over them other than DHS caseworkers, which really don't get involved on a regular basis, the way that this particular person would. So full-time navigation, hopefully from middle school all the way to high school. We've got a pilot project for three years. We're just starting to getting funding now and looking for support on that, but hopefully we'll start. We're hoping to launch our first school next year.

Maria:

And then my goal, our objective, is to get it statewide, so that we'll be going down to Albany and hopefully over to the coast as well, and I'm hoping to get over to the Eastern part of this day as well. There's just so many foster youth. There's almost 9,000 kids under foster care right now and only 35% of them will graduate from high school 35%, and I just find that deplorable. So I'm hoping to raise up the high school graduation rate with this program. So that's what Anthony Circle is all about, and you can learn more about it anthonycircleorg. And we're just getting going, just started.

Ute:

I love it. It's beautiful and, yes, very much needed. I mean 35%, that's ridiculous, it's horrible.

Maria:

Yeah.

Ute:

Yeah, that's really us failing our kids.

Maria:

Yeah, that's what I think, yeah.

Ute:

So I am going to have that in the show notes, of course, as well, because we're always putting all of the links and everything down into the show notes. We are, of course, all about empowering and elevating women in the wine industry. On this podcast and really anyone we have a lot of listeners who are not in the wine industry, who are just very interested in listening, and we always ask at the end of an interview for some words of wisdom. As you move through your professional lives, can you share some of your wisdom with us?

Maria:

Well, it's always hard for me to get this distilled down to one sentence, sure, because I think it's just so much. I mean, what have I learned? I think I mean I come from a very strong. My mother was a very strong woman, even though she was a woman from the 50s, and she married a guy and she did whatever the guy wanted. She was also very strong. She always wanted her two girls to be incredibly strong and independent, and so I come from an incredible base.

Maria:

My foundation is really very lucky again, but I think that, even with that, as I've moved through my professional life, I think the number one thing is that women just need to use their voice, and it's again. We hear this over and over and over again, but I think it needs to continue to be said that if you want something, you need to go and ask for what it is that you want. You need to use your voice, and I don't feel like there should be excuses anymore. When you are at the table and you feel that you're being railed, you need to put your two feet down on the floor and you need to say hi, this is who I am and this is what I think you need to project. You are the one you need to do that, and it is incredibly uncomfortable and you will feel incredibly rude and you will feel like I am the biggest bitch, and then you know you're going somewhere, because if we sit back and expect somebody else to do it for us, it's not gonna happen. So we need to actually go ahead and find that inner strength, even if it's for like a millisecond, move on the millisecond. Put your feet on the ground and say it, say whatever it is. You need to say you know, joe, actually Joe, what I would like you to hear and just project yourself, because I think that we were ready for it. The guys are ready for it, right, right, they're ready for it, and if they're not, then they again. They need to hear from us, but I think that it's using our voice, and it's not just in a boardroom or whatever, but it's also when you've been in a job for several months or a year or years and you feel that you are not being compensated. You need to say something about it on behalf of yourself. You need to do that. You need to do that for you. You need to protect yourself. You're the only person who is going to protect yourself. So if you feel that you are worthy then say it, ask for it.

Maria:

Some of my best workers, my employers, my employees sorry were women who would just keep doing their work Just go, go, go, right. Those girls, they just keep going, keep going, and they never would come to me and say, hey, I feel like I want a promotion or I feel that I'm ready for this, or could you give me an opportunity to whatever? Can I go to Selwine in Texas, and I think they were leaving it up to me to do it for them. But I'm running, especially small business owners like we're running around, we're assuming everyone's happy, but maybe if that and they did there were some that would come.

Maria:

But when they come to me and sent me down and go you know, maria, I've been here for like a year and I really think I could I'd be like hell, yeah, fuck you, let's do it, let's do it. But you need to advocate for yourself and I think that's a really a point that needs to continue to be told to young women in particular, who feel that they shouldn't say anything or it's not right time, or you know, it's really busy. This is going on. That's going on Like if you need it, you got to ask for it.

Ute:

Yeah, I agree, I agree Period, love it. It's a beautiful message. It's a beautiful message, yeah.

Maria:

It's simple. I mean, there's a lot of other things I would say, but I think, like I think to, definitely to younger women in particular. I feel like they need to continue to hear that that's how things happen. Guys don't have to ask for it, you know Right.

Ute:

Yeah.

Maria:

They don't. So stop worrying about the guys, worry about you. Take care of you, take care of you 100%.

Ute:

I love it. Thank you, of course. So this is our final question here and we are actually going on an hour, which is so amazing. I knew this was going to happen. So the thing I was about to say. I had a feeling we were going to be chatting like that. I guess I talk a lot, so can you, for just a minute, talk to me about your favorite wine regions that you have traveled to outside of the Willamette Valley, and what regions stand out to you and why?

Maria:

Yeah, well, I mean, again, I've had the great fortune of traveling with my family as a little girl to, like you know, lots of places and I hated it. Just for the record, like it's really no fun when you're seven years old going to vineyards Just saying I don't know, maybe it is now, it wasn't then, it was boring as hell, but we were in all these beautiful places. I think, like I have been to so many beautiful places around the world and you know, yeah, france and Italy and Portugal, australia I think that when it really comes down to you know what are my most favorite places? It's for me, speaking about me, it's more about you know, the experience of the people and the stories, and less about, oh, I have this most amazing wine, cause it's like, okay, great, I've had amazing, I've had again, I've had gorgeous wines and that's amazing. But when I leave, you know, drc, I'm not going God that you know the only, it was just amazing. It's more like God. That was a really cool experience down in the cellar, the way that he did that way, you know whatever, the way he was pulling the wines out, or the fact that there was a bottle that we pulled from 1964, like.

Maria:

That's the stuff that I remember and so for me, wherever I go, it's more about again. It gets back to the gathering and the camaraderie and the friendships and the relationships and the people and then the stories. That's what I take away, because what I have realized is that people that are true wine people meaning producers of wine, meaning they are in the vineyard as well as in the cellar the real deal those people are beautiful people. They are connected to the earth, they're connected to the product, this beverage that they're making, and they love it. But they also know how to enjoy other people and they love to share. And that is what I think is so spectacular and also kind of unknown, because for so many people I think the lens into the wine industry is that it is romantic and luxurious and privileged. But if you drill down to the people who are the real makers of this beverage, they're the heartiest, coolest, down to earth people that you'll ever meet.

Maria:

And for me that is what it's all about and that's what it's always been about is about that unity, that camaraderie that we share around this beverage. And most specifically, I think you get it when you're talking about Pinot Noir, because it's just this really super beautiful grape. It's a beautiful wine when it's well made and it has so many depths and layers and complexity to it, and so do the people. So for me, wherever I go, I always really am looking more at the people, and I love places that talk about history, because I love history. Of course. I love to know how did it happen, how was it established, who were the players and all those things. So I love like we were in Cognac last year and they had a really lovely display about the origins of Cognac and why they're making Cognac along the river and the vineyards are all the way down the river and why we're in the town and the is here. So, anyway, just things like that that I think that are really super interesting.

Ute:

I totally, yeah, I totally hear you there and, interestingly, many years ago I was gosh 26 maybe and I was always a wine drinker, even as a teenager, because in Germany that's just how that worked they would offer you wine at the table with your parents, but I was not really paying attention to winemaking and it was just not my passion at the time. Right, I didn't grow up in that environment. But still to this day, this place in Italy stands out to me, where I don't remember what the name of the wine or what the name of the winery is called or anything like that. It wasn't Tuscany.

Ute:

We stayed there in an apartment in the winery and they made this most amazing dinner of four courses and they served this amazing wine with it and I remember very intensely the way it made me feel, the way that they poured and they had the conversation. The winemaker was there and the boss lady was there and they're sitting at this table with us and it's just rustic and old and beautiful and the way the air smelled and the way it just all felt with all of these people. We didn't know and it was just the most beautiful thing. Again, don't remember at all what the name was and what the wines were, but it was just incredible because of this community that we had for just that evening.

Maria:

It was gorgeous, so yeah, yeah, totally, it is exactly what I'm saying too. It's just like and it seems to happen, like those experiences seem to just happen effortlessly, right. They just like, all of a sudden, there's this beautiful salad that it was just been picked from the garden, you know. Next to it, there it is, and the whole thing, and you're just like, wow, this is so amazing. But it's not artificial, it's not about pretense, it's about really enjoying. It's like it gets back to the four ounce pour. It's like really enjoying all those things, like the beautiful, whatever. It is like just in live, kind of opening up all your senses, right, like you said, your smells, you know what's on the table, you know beautiful, whatever it is floral or food or whatever it is, and it's so exciting and those are the moments that you remember far more For me. I mean maybe, you know, my sister would say something different, but for me far more than the bottle of wine.

Maria:

Right, yeah, wonderful.

Ute:

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah, I want you to stick around for just a moment after we sign off, but thank you so, so much for joining me here today. It was an amazing interview. I feel like we could talk another hour easily, and maybe we will have another opportunity to do that again in the future when we kind of catch up with each other and see where we're are in life.

Maria:

Yeah, I would love that. I would love that Maybe we'll see each other at a women in wine For sure yeah, so again, everything will be in the show notes.

Ute:

Listeners, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, and with all that, all I have left to say is, of course, Prost.