The Winemakers Amelia Morán Ceja and Dalia Ceja
After immigrating to California’s Napa Valley from Mexico at age 12, Amelia Morán picked grapes alongside her mother. Fifty years later, Amelia still works in Napa’s wine industry, now alongside her daughter, Dalia.
Amelia, 62, is the first Mexican-American female president of a wine producer, the award-winning Ceja Vineyards. With an executive MBA from Sonoma State in wine marketing, Dalia, 33, is Ceja’s sales and marketing director.
“We want to make wine exploration less arrogant, more democratic,” Amelia says. What mom has learned from daughter: “Adapting to technology, like social media. Dalia gives us visibility in a very crowded environment.” Both star on Ceja’s YouTube channel, demonstrating how to prepare dishes like Jalisco-style mole or chilaquiles—to serve not with margaritas or beer, but merlot or pinot noir. What daughter has learned from mom: “If you truly bring passionate interest into what you do, it’s like you don’t have to work a day in your life.” Something they share: “We’re both so proud of our rich Mexican heritage,” Dalia says. “As two Latina women, we want to inspire other women and girls that anything is possible!”