Enticing Douro Cruise, July 6-13, 2027, with Brian and Jennifer Bumgarner of Bumgarner Winery

Bumgarner Winery

In 1993, Brian Bumgarner began his journey in wine as a man wearing many hats. He was a tasting room manager, wine sales consultant, bottling line attendant, and held a spare palette for wine blending trials. Being curious, Brian had asked the head winemaker if he had extra grapes to spare to make his own wine. He was gifted with enough grapes to make just one barrel of Zinfandel.

That curiosity had grown into a new passion. Brian found himself starting a new life in the wine world. In 2005, and he made that dream a reality by releasing his first vintage of El Dorado Cabernet Sauvignon. His passion was immediately well-received. One Sacramento restauranteur stated, “beautifully magnificent and intense, with quality far exceeding typical expectations of a Foothill Cabernet”.

In 2010 Brian and his wife Jennifer Bumgarner opened their first tasting room in Camino, California, located in the Sierra Nevada foothills below Lake Tahoe. Here Brian expanded to growing and creating wines from Tempranillo, Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah grapes, and a Bordeaux-style blend named Many Hands. The focus was on both elegance and sustainability. They launched the Silver Fork wine label, a series of wines in environmentally friendly wines. meant to be a staple on the table like a silver fork. Bumgarner wines capture the story of devotion in a bottle and how curiosity can spark a new passion.

In 2017 the Bumgarners purchased a 30-acre vineyard in Fair Play, California. The newly established Bumgarner Winery and Vineyards now produced varieties such as Sémillon and Chenin Blanc. In 2021 Brian became the second recipient of the Winemaker of the Year Award from Wine Snob Blog.

Join Brian and Jennifer Bumgarner on this “Bucket List” trip to Portugal. This once-in-a-lifetime program combines a 4-night land tour, staying three nights in Lisbon and one night in Porto before our 7-night Douro cruise. We’ll see the sights of Lisbon, the mountaintop castles of Sintra, miraculous Fatima, the university city of Coimbra and enjoy a relaxed night in beautiful Porto. This is a relaxed and leisurely introduction to Portugal before boarding our 7-night Douro River cruise aboard the luxurious ship AmaDouro.

After the Douro cruise, there is an optional 3-night post-cruise extension north from Porto into Galicia, the cool climate Spanish province, home to the Basque people, amazing Michelin star restaurants and superb Albariño white wines.

This website explains nearly everything about this trip. Feel free to share this with any like-minded friends who might enjoy a vacation dedicated to culture, art, history, great cusine and fine wine.

Sincerely,
Brian & Jennifer Bumgarner
Owners & Winemakers