about
our history
Sosta House is owned and operated by brother-sister duo Nico and Mia Ponzi Hamacher. After years away from the Northwest we have returned home to bring new life to this special place. We spent our early years with our cousins in this house while our family worked in the winery next door. Collecting flowers to press and observing insects in the vineyards - we explored every corner of the property.
The house was home to many people in those days. We remember beloved babysitters, eccentric artist friends, various birthday parties for dogs and people, children's art shows, theatrical productions of original plays (complete costumes and sets were made from scrap fabric and wine boxes), and naps in the afternoon sun. We would climb the fig tree looking for fruit and hide under the basement stairs during hide and seek. It was our childhood home more than any place we ever lived. The house is precious to generations of our family as it has been the childhood home of our mother and the place where our grandparents, Dick and Nancy Ponzi, settled with their young family to build a new life and establish one of the first wineries in the Willamette Valley.
As travelers from all over the world would eventually come to learn about Oregon winemaking during harvest, the house was theirs, transformed into a hub of international camaraderie for young and lively interns. On long harvest days when the grapes arrived in a seemingly endless array of trucks and bins from before sunrise to long after nightfall, everyone would stop for a shared lunch in the afternoon prepared by our grandmother and enjoyed on the back deck of the house. These lunches were simple and always elegant, with white tablecloths and wine glasses for the gloriously sticky, hard working winery crew who would slip off their dirty boots (the recognized badge of honor in our family) on the grass and relax around a long lunch in the shade. As little kids we were in awe of this fantastic array of people, gathered here to share a common interest in wine, food and hospitality. These treasured memories have guided us through our own lives, eventually returning here with the same warmth in mind.
who we are
Nico left home in 2015, traveling far and wide before returning to Oregon. He worked odd jobs around the world from commercial fishing in Alaska, aiding refugees in Greece, practicing alpine and emergency medicine, and even living with two nuns in Guatemala. His travels exposed him to a wide variety of people and ways of life which continue to fuel his passion for hospitality. He finally settled in New York City for graduate school in 2021 and graduated in spring 2023.
Mia found a love for cooking at a young age. In a wine family, food is always close by and growing up she was drawn to the kitchen – the lively noise, smells and mess were both familiar and exciting. Eventually she moved to New York City for art school but found working in restaurants to be a more fitting education and focused on climbing the ranks in the New York City culinary scene. She explored various facets of the industry from traditional restaurants and food education to supper clubs and private dining, all the while fantasizing about the perfect produce and ingredients she grew up knowing in the Willamette Valley.
When Nico proposed a project back home it felt like a perfect opportunity. At the time, Mia was working a demanding corporate job, far from what she loved about cooking. The potential to create something special for travelers to the Valley was exciting. Our idea coincided with the realization that the home that meant so much to us growing up was vacant for the first time in decades. The idea of Sosta House was born.
our neighbors
Sosta House is attached to the original Ponzi Winery and tasting room. Owned and operated for over 50 years by our grandparents and their children including our mother, winemaker Luisa Ponzi. Ownership was passed on in 2021 to another long time family business, Champagne Bollinger.
We are part of a collaborative project here on the property called Winery Lane Collective. The Collective is home to Hamacher Wines, owned and operated by our father and winemaker, Eric Hamacher, and Suzor Wines, owned and operated by our friends Melissa and Greg. As fate would have it Greg was one of the harvest interns we grew up with back in the Ponzi days and returned to the property to make his own wine here the same year we returned to open Sosta House! Exclusive tours of the winery and vineyards, private tastings and paired wine dinners are available to guests of Sosta House with advance notice. The market bar is open to the public Thursday through Monday, noon to six for wines by the glass or bottle, and the Sosta Market for a collection of our favorite local and imported snacks curated by us!
