Building an Empire from the Soil Up: Ceja Vineyards, a True Mexican-American Success Story
They built an empire from the soil up, now family owned and operated Ceja Vineyards plans to build new winery to accommodate growth
The MEXICO Report: PEOPLE Section
“We are successful because we love what we do, we work hard, but we love what we do.”– Amelia Ceja
Meeting Amelia Ceja was an unexpected surprise in a series of serendipitous events during a recent trip to Napa, CA. Her story is truly admirable and even though she’s told it a hundred times, she still conveys it with love and great conviction.
Amelia Ceja is the president and owner of Ceja Vineyards, an ultra premium Latino family winery in Napa Valley. She is the poster child for the immigrant dream. But like most stories, Ceja’s success didn’t happen overnight. It happened with a lot of hard work, dedication and a dream.
Amelia Morán Fuentes (now Ceja), and her family came from Las Fores, Jalisco, Mexico to pick grapes in the northern California wine fields through the
Bracero program in the 60’s, when she was just 12 years old. As farm workers, Amelia’s parents made many lasting friendships, in particular with Pablo and Juanita Ceja, who also immigrated from Mexico (Michoacan).
The first time she picked grapes, Amelia met Pedro and Armando Ceja, the sons of her parents close friends, Pablo and Juanita. Both families worked the land together for years at different wineries up and down the coast with their children helping out after school and during summertime. They learned the ins and outs of winemaking from the soil up. As time went by, the children grew and went on to college but still maintained close friendships.
The friendship between Amelia Moran and Pedro Ceja, ultimately flourished into love and the two were married. Together, along with Pedro’s brother Armando and his wife Martha, they all became business partners and began to grow the Ceja empire.
In 1983, the Cejas united their resources together and invested in 15 acres of fertile land in the desirable district of Carneros. In 1988, their first harvest was produced. By 2001, Ceja released its first 750 cases of wine and a year later, they were declared the best new winery by nearly 100 wine writers.
Today, Ceja owns 113 lush acres, of which 15 percent is used for their production and the remaining 85 percent is sold to contracted wineries. They now produce 10 premium wines including Vino de Casa, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and have two more in the works, a bottle-aged port and sparkling wine.
Inside the Ceja Winery, the walls are adorned with hundreds of different distinctions, honors, plaques, trophies, ribbons and awards. And the honors are well deserved. Ceja was just awarded Best Boutique Winery and Best Tasting Room for the third year in a row at the 18th annual publication of Best of Napa and Sonoma 2010, voted by online consumers.
From the beginning, their business has steadily grown, and has flourished into one of the most prestigious wineries today. And now Amelia and Pedro’s college-educated children are taking more of a role in the business as well. Son Ariel who also works for the family business, developed Salud Napa!, a social networking site featuring a bicultural cooking show teaching viewers how to cook Mexican food and pair it with wine. The show features Amelia Ceja (also a chef) and daughter, Dalia among other guest chefs.
“We are growing the Ceja legacy, building an empire, and have the next generation in the pipeline,” said Amelia Ceja. Now, they now have plans to expand their empire with a brand new winery, going from 3,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet.
According to the plans, with the new space they will have a production area with stainless steel tanks, a new tasting room, a large patio, and a beautiful VIP room.
“We hope to have the permits and start building by this spring,” said Ceja. She also hopes that they’ll harvest in the fall of 2011.
“It’s happening, it’s tangible and it’s very exciting!”
To read their incredible family history, click here: The Ceja Family Story.
To learn more about Ceja Vineyards, visit http://www.cejavineyards.com
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