To be clear, Bollinger s stated intentions are not to make more sparkling wine than Ponzi does already. Ponzi makes 30,000 cases of wine annually and bubblies are a tiny portion of that. In 1999, Bollinger bought a still wine producer in Burgundy, Chanson Père & Fils, and has not turned it into a Crémant house.
That said, Oregon has a small but growing portfolio of quality sparkling wines. Argyle was the first Oregon bubbly producer to be nationally known. Now many well-known Pinot Noir producers are also making bubbly, including Domaine Serene, Elk Cove and Soter.
Moreover, in February Robb Report ran a story about Oregon sparkling wine in which Argyle founder Rollin Soles is quoted as saying: Christian Bizot, chairman of Bollinger, declared he believed this was the first region to make sparkling wines with the potential to age as well as Champagne.
France’s Champagne Bollinger buys Oregon’s iconic Ponzi Vineyards
Updated Apr 07, 2021;
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By Michael Alberty | For The Oregonian/OregonLive
The legendary French wine company Champagne Bollinger announced Wednesday that it had purchased one of Oregon’s pioneering wineries, Ponzi Vineyards. It will be Bollinger’s first winery located in the United States.
Ponzi Vineyards was founded in the northern Willamette Valley by Dick and Nancy Ponzi in 1970. Their original 20-acre farm southwest of Portland grew over the decades into 175 acres of vines the Ponzi family owns or manages. Anna Maria Ponzi, president and director of sales and marketing, and winemaker Luisa Ponzi have carried on their parents’ wine legacy for the past 25 years.