Welcome to Ceja (say ha) Wines.  What a lovely ambiance! They have two tasting rooms, in the Carneros appellation (which straddles Napa and Sonoma County) and downtown Napa.  The family is very hands-on. The matriarch, Amelia, cooks, entertains, talks about wine, pours wine…she does it all with an excitement and energy that belies the fact that she has been in the wine business for decades. Her husband, Pedro, and brother-in-law, Armando, head up vineyard management and winemaking.  Daughter, Dalia, and son, Ariel, both work in the family business.  Ariel is especially interested in video as you can see from their web site.

I’ve been to many family-operated wineries but this winery is distinct: I feel their Mexican-rooted hospitality; in fact, it’s a bit like being in a gracious, beautiful home in Mexico. I wanted to sit down for a meal with all of them, listen to stories, eat Amelia’s wonderful food and drink lots of wine.  (Casa Ceja members enjoy these perks.) You can find their wines at restaurants, fine wine shops and online.

Their wines are so well-structured that I enjoy them with and without food.  Their Sauvignon Blanc ($26) and Vino de Casa White ($20) are favorite summer wines at my house; when I offer a selection of whites for my guests, they are first to be emptied.  Amelia has lots of recipes online and I made my own cherry relish to pair with Ceja’s Vino de Casa Red.

TIP: Ceja is extremely well-respected in the professional wine industry.  Famed Critic, Robert Parker is a fan; he has requested their wine at events. The Ceja’s don’t submit their wines to him for rating: because he tastes 75 wines per day in his job, it’s not the best way to experience gentle, structured wines. The same goes for consumers, the more wine we taste in one day, the less we can appreciate what we’re tasting.

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Tags: Carneros, sauvignon blanc, white wine, Wineries & Wine Bars