Enticing Douro Cruise, May 13-20, 2025, with Paul & Maggie Bush of Madrona Vineyards

2025 Portugal & Enticing Douro River Cruise

Having planted vineyards when I was 6 years old and now being a winemaker, some might assume a classic Hollywood-like progression.However, I am not the poster boy for the wine industry. Having grown up in the family’s vineyards and winery, I couldn’t wait to do something, or anything, different. I graduated from UC Davis in 1989, but my degree is in Macro Economics.

So then, how does one succeed “escaping” the wine industry and then find himself some 28 years later owning vineyards and two wineries? In two words, personal evolution!

My interest in wine is rooted in vine. I love growing grapes and finding the purest expression of our vineyards in the wine. Given the choice, I prefer my office be a tractor and my time spent purely in the field, the place where the true quality of wine comes. I am less a winemaker and more a “wine elaborator.”

Personally, one cannot ask for a more fulfilling quality of life than owning a winery. I get to work every day with my wife Maggie, whose background is finance. She runs the wineries and I make the wines. Add to this that we work with wonderful people, live in a beautiful region, and get to enjoy the fruits of our labors in a glass. We do live the dream.And that in itself has been our personal evolution.

Maggie and I invite you to join us for 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.

This exclusive holiday is dedicated to great food, historic places, fine wines and plentiful sunshine. This website explains nearly everything about this trip.Feel free to share this with any like-minded friends. Join us!

Paul & Maggie Bush
Owners & Winemakers