Ceja sisters are grateful passion for hard work, wine was passed down to them

For more than half a century, three generations of Sonoma's Ceja family have played a growing role in the local wine industry, transitioning over the decades from grape harvesters to vineyard owners to winery owners and winemakers at Ceja Vineyards.

The family’s story of success has been propelled not only by hard hands-on work and unflagging determination, but also by strong family support and shared dreams.

That's why third-generation sisters Belén, 35, and Ellie, 30, named their Sonoma Carneros enterprise Heirs of My Dream Winery.

"I feel so lucky to share in my family's dream in this way," Ellie said. "You respect all those generations of hard work, and you keep moving forward to make people in the past proud of you the way you're proud of them. I love that I get to follow what they’ve done."

Belén feels the same. “My grandparents, my parents — they worked so hard ... and gave us so much. Continuing in their footsteps is an inspiration.”

Heirs of My Dream Winery — the family calls it Heirs Winery for short — is serenely nestled on 40 acres of prime Carneros property, with 32 acres planted to chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. The site offers stunning vineyard views that stretch for miles toward San Pablo Bay, a kidney-shaped lake, garden areas with plenty of seating and an unusual diversity of wine-centered experiences.

Heirs of My Dream Winery is first and foremost a custom crush operation, producing wine for a variety of customers who don’t have their own winemaking facilities. One such customer is Philip Staehle, founder and winemaker of multi-Gold medal winner of Enkidu Wine, which was a gold medal winner at the 2020 North Coast Wine Challenge.

“It’s wonderful working with Belén and Ellie,” Staehle said. “They’ve basically enabled me to do all the work I want to do on my wines. I’ve had much more freedom at Heirs Winery than at any other press facility.”

Belén is the director of wine production, working closely with custom crush clients, while Ellie heads up events and oversees the winery’s upkeep. That’s how it works officially, at any rate: both sisters are known for pitching in wherever they’re needed. The winery has five full-time employees — seven, including Belén and Ellie — and they hire three to five workers seasonally.

Supporting other business owners, companies

But Heirs of My Dream Winery has also grown into a multi-layered destination, offering visitors diverse experiences in multiple venues.

For example, in the tasting collective, you can sample wines from two labels produced by Heirs Winery: Enkidu Wine and Honrama Cellars.

“It’s such a beautiful feeling here,” said Miriam Puentes, Honrama Cellars’ co-owner. “It’s in the middle of wine country magic. We conduct tastings, tell people about our history, walk them through the crush pad and out the back where they can see hills in the distance and walk into the vineyards.”

“This is a great venue for many reasons,” Staehle said. “We work collaboratively with Honrama (Cellars), helping each other out. Visitors love the outdoor area. We have a hospitality coordinator and wine club manager who manage things here 95% of the time, but when I’m here I like to do tours, make it a hands-on experience.”

Nearby, in its own section of the main building, is the art-filled Hanson of Sonoma Distillery, which specializes in grape-based organic vodkas. These range from the original pure vodka to infused organic flavors such as Meyer lemon, habanero, mandarin and more. Visitors can enjoy a vodka sampling, bliss out over a vodka martini and caviar pairing, or tour the distillery.

Finally, Ceja Vineyards, known for premium estate-grown wines, is housed in its own building on the property. It’s not unusual for a tasting from the impressive wine portfolio to be led by one of the owners. There is a handsome garden area to enjoy, and visitors come away knowing a good deal about why the Carneros wine region produces such quality grapes.

Family’s long history in harvest, working the land

The Ceja family’s journey from grape harvesters to Heirs of My Dream Winery started in 1952. That year patriarch Pablo Ceja traveled 2,500 miles from his ancestral home in Aguililla, Michoacán, to California as part of the Bracero Program, a guest-worker agreement between the United States and Mexico. He made the long journey back and forth for fifteen years until 1967, when his wife, Juanita, and their children joined him in Napa Valley.

After school and on weekends the Ceja children worked in the vineyards alongside their parents. One of those children, Armando Ceja — who would become Belén and Ellie's father — began learning about the vines at the age of seven. By the time he was eighteen he’d produced his first barrel of cabernet sauvignon with some leftover grapes that weren't being used.

“My bond with the land was definitely there from the beginning,” he said. “And it remains there today. I love being outside in the fresh air, working with the land. I learned from the ground up: planting, grafting, pruning, harvesting, shovel work, fertilization. I truly enjoyed the viticulture — and, later, the winemaking.”

Armando went on to graduate from UC Davis in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in enology. He married Martha Brambila, whom he had met through friends when he was a junior at St. Helena High School and she was a student at Napa’s Vintage High School. He worked at Kenwood Vineyards in both winemaking and vineyard management, and then joined Christian Brothers Winery (now known as Christian Brothers Retreat & Conference Center).

Their first child, Belén, was born in 1987, and Ellie arrived five years later. The two sisters have a brother, Julian, who is not involved in the wine industry.

Pedro Ceja, Armando's older brother, also worked in the vineyards as a child, where, at 12 he met his future wife, Amelia Morán. After graduating from Napa Valley College, Pedro became an electrical engineer at Thermo Fisher Scientific, but eventually returned to the wine industry. In 2005, Amelia Ceja was named "Woman of the Year" by the California legislature for her many contributions to the wine industry.

Getting into grape growing

In 1982, two generations of Cejas — Pablo and Juanita, Armando and Martha, Pedro and Amelia — pooled savings to buy a small parcel of land in Napa’s Carneros wine region, marking the family’s start as grape growers. The first vines were planted in 1986, and the first harvest, in 1988, sold to Domaine Chandon of Chandon in Yountville.

The group purchased other small vineyard properties in the ensuing years, sometimes with other family members involved. In 1992, they bought land in Sonoma’s Carneros wine region off Arnold Road where they planted chardonnay and merlot vines. Here, five years later, they founded Ceja Vineyards. Ceja Vineyard’s first commercial wine production began in 1997, and the first bottles went on sale in 2000. The first year's production made 750 cases of wine. Today the business averages 6,000 cases per year, though the number fluctuates depending on harvest conditions.

Today the group owns a combined 107 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties. These figures do not include the 40-acre Burndale/Highway 12 property that houses Heirs of My Dream Winery, which is owned by Armando and Martha Ceja and their two daughters, Belén and Ellie.

As for that inherited family dream, it has changed over time.

“For my parents,” Armando said, “their dream is common to every person who migrates from their native land. They wanted to build a better future for themselves and their family. I migrated at a young age, so that got instilled in me. I don’t think it changed for me so much as got a little better focused. One has more control over thoughts, desires, the ability to execute.”

“Not many people get to share in something their grandparents and parents built,” Ellie said. “Working with my parents, my aunts and uncles, and now my sister — it’s a dream come true.”

Belén is grateful to be an heir to the dream. “I’m living my dream every day, my passion for the wine industry. Every time I tried to venture out in a different way, the wine industry pulled me back. I love what I’m doing.”