Aldina Vineyards

Daughter of veteran Sonoma-Napa winemaker Armando Ceja of Ceja Vineyards, Belén grew up in Napa and Sonoma Valleys and earned an Associate's degree from Santa Rosa Junior College before completing her B.A.Sc. in Viticulture and Enology at Cal State Fresno in 2013. She did cellar work for four years as an intern at Enkidu Wines in Sonoma, then became winery supervisor and enologist at Heirs of My Dream, the custom-crush facility she co-owns with her sister Ellie, where she was named Director of Wine Production three years later. The López family of Aldina sought out a Latino winemaker as a deliberate cultural alignment, and Ceja has shaped the program from its early single-Cabernet focus into a broader portfolio that now includes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, rosé of Cabernet, and a Bordeaux-style red blend. She makes the Aldina wines at Heirs of My Dream, working at the small-lot scale the family estate supports.

Monica López is the proprietor of Aldina Vineyards, which she co-owns with her brother Francisco. The winery is named for their parents, Alberto and Dina López, who moved the family to Sonoma County and planted a hillside vineyard in the Fountaingrove District of northeast Santa Rosa in 1999, the seed of a label the siblings launched in 2012. A Latina business leader, Monica also serves as general manager of Bacchus Landing, the Healdsburg hospitality complex where Aldina pours, and has made championing women and Latino vintners central to the family’s mission. Aldina is best known for its estate Cabernet Sauvignon.