When flames were scorching the Napa and Sonoma Valley wine regions in October, vineyard owner Amelia Ceja was speaking up for the California farm workers she saw picking grapes in the smoke. Amelia is the first Mexican-American woman ever elected president of a winery, and she was once a farm worker herself.

 

Amelia immigrated to America in 1967. Her father had come a few years earlier as part of an agreement between the United States and Mexico, which sent millions of laborers north of the border. With the Vietnam War going on, the U.S. had a labor shortage and needed people to work the fields. 

 

I had to learn more about this woman who came to America without knowing English, and who went on to become the owner of a multi-million dollar winery. In this episode, we talk about pairing wine and Mexican cuisine; Amelia meeting Cesar Chavez; her involvement in helping the Smithsonian National Museum of American History tell a more diverse American story, and more.

 

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