By Doug Noble, Democrat correspondent
Jan. 20, 2006

What: 30th Anniversary
Who: Madroña Vineyards and Winery
Where: 2560 High Hill Road, Camino
When: Jan. 27 and 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $15
Information: MadronaVineyards.com or 644-5948

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Madroña Vineyards is decking the halls this year, celebrating 30 years in business, and a successful transition from founders Dick and Leslie Bush to the next generation, Paul and Maggie Bush. Working in his chosen medium, artisan winemaker Paul Bush has created two ultra-reserve wines to honor his parents' achievements.

“My dad and mom had the foresight; they saw the potential of these elevations for winegrape growing, and built up a following for their wines,” said Paul recently as the family planned several events to mark the occasion. “I don't know if they planned for us to take it over back then, but it has worked out remarkably well. I can't describe how good it feels to see my daughters running up and down the rows (in the vineyard). I can only hope they will grow up to be as committed as we are.”

To commemorate this milestone, Paul and his team has created a one-vintage-only 30th anniversary collection of wines. There's an ultra-reserve Chardonnay, full-bodied and rich, in a tiny lot of only 25 cases. The small block Zinfandel, only 130 cases, was made from the best part of the home vineyard, showcasing the intense fruit of Madroña's mountain vineyards.

In 1973, when Madroña Vineyards planted its first vines, it was a time when you could count the number of wineries in El Dorado County on just one hand. Now it would take most of the fingers and toes of three people to tally the wineries in El Dorado County. How we got from there to here is a fascinating tale that can be told by following the Bush family, one of the pioneering families of the recent winegrape rediscovery.

It was 1967 when Dick and Leslie Bush moved to Placerville. Leslie had grown up in the area, and even worked in the pear packing shed. But, the area was new to Dick. He had a doctorate in metallurgical engineering from Stanford and she had a double major degree in music and education from the University of the Pacific and San Jose State.

Dick had worked for six years at the Ford laboratory in Dearborn, Mich., but had always wanted to come back to California, where he had lived since a very young age.

He was lucky and found work at Sierra Hydrotech, in Placerville, where his brother-in-law was a hydrologist. He did data processing for them using the experience he had gained while working for Ford. Both he and Leslie really liked the area and around 1972 started looking for some acreage on which to live and raise their four children. That decision would change their lives forever and affect many others.

“In 1972 we found a piece of property in the Camino area that included 40 acres of cleared land,” said Dick. “I am environmentally conscious and wanted to preserve the land for agriculture by making it productive. I contacted Ed Delfino (the county Agricultural Commissioner) and Dick Bethel (the University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor) and asked what could be planted on it. I was surprised that they told me trees or grapes, not apples, which were becoming the largest crop in the Camino area.

“I knew El Dorado County had a history of wine grape vineyards from as far back as the Gold Rush and that Greg Boeger was in the process of building a winery. I also knew that there were a few existing vineyards in the Gold Hill area used by a small winery in Coloma. Christmas trees didn't interest us, so we decided to plant grapes on the cleared land. But, by the time we had arranged financing, the property had been sold to someone else.”

Dick and Leslie continued to look and soon found about 52 acres a short distance away from the other property. It was half of the former Dart Ranch, and although it wasn't cleared, it did have a large brushy area, 30 plus acres in size, which they thought might work for grapes. They were also excited about the huge Madrone tree which stood on the property and measured at least a dozen feet in circumference.

“In December of 1972 we purchased the land and started clearing the brushy area,” continued Dick. “I didn't have any background in agriculture, but I had a lot of help from the local experts. I did a bit more research and found that the first map of the area, prepared in the 1870s, showed a vineyard near this land. I liked that. I also talked with the experts at the Institute of Forest Genetics, who told me that there are a few native plants that indicate if the soil is potentially good for grapes. They mentioned Black Oak and Poison Oak. We had plenty of those two, along with Madrone, which grows well in the Napa Valley area. Madrone is an interesting tree, which is very difficult to transplant. If it is growing somewhere, it is most likely native to the area. I found it is also a good indicator of proper climate and the well drained soils that grapes need.”

With all of this information, the next year the Bushes went forward and planted 22 acres of grapevines, about two-thirds of the brushy land, in spite of some concern from the experts since they were higher in elevation and larger in size than any of the other vineyards around. “We decided to only plant grapes from which wine could be made that we liked and that were economically attractive,” added Dick. “Our plan was to grow grapes and sell them to wineries. The first planting was Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Riesling. Our children and just about half of the kids in El Dorado County helped us clear and plant.”

At about the same time they were planting, an opportunity came up to teach for two years at the American School at Kinshasa, Zaire. So, with the vines in the ground, the whole family left the vineyard in the care of their partners, packed up and went to Zaire. While there, Dick taught math and electronics and Leslie taught first and second grade.

While the family was in Zaire, their partners, who would later move to Alaska and be bought out, continued the clearing and planting, sending them pictures of the progress. When the Bush family returned, they got back to tending the vines and when they reached the point where the grapes could be harvested, began selling them to wineries.

“In 1978 we decided to work with Greg Boeger and make some of our own wine from our grapes,” added Dick. “Our first was a 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by both a Cabernet and a Zinfandel the next year. It was about then that we figured we could insure a market for our grapes by building our own winery. We pressed our first grapes in a wall-less winery in 1980. We were delighted when our 1980 Zinfandel won the first of many gold medals at the Orange County Fair competition,” Dick said.

“We had to come up with a name for the winery, but that was easy. The huge Madrone tree in the middle of the vineyard was our inspiration. I looked it up in a botanical text at the Institute of Forest Genetics and found it spelled ‘Madroña,' with a tilda over the ‘n.' That was it.

“I knew I could grow grapes out of a book, but I also knew I couldn't make wine out of a book. So we hired consultants. One of the first was Paul Wofford, who now has a winery in Camino. After using consultants for a while, in 1985 we hired our first winemaker, Mark Foster.”

With wine now being produced it was decided that someone would have to market it, so Dick took on that job while Leslie went back to teaching school and, as Dick put it, “making money.”

She taught at Pioneer Union School District for two years before moving to the Placerville Union School District where she taught for 12 years. The Bush children: David, Diane, Carolyn and Paul, along with other family members and friends, continued to work in the vineyards and winery.

“The secret to our success,” said Paul Bush, “is hard work. We make estate wines. We grow our own grapes and have control of the process from the grapes to the wine. We make what we like. We drink wine with dinner, so we make food wines. We have established a style of wines over the past three decades, and we are going to stick with that style, since not only do we like it, so do our customers.

“To insure a continuation of that style, in 2003 Maggie and I established a joint ownership and transition plan with my parents and I took over as winemaker and vineyard manager with Maggie, a certified accountant, as the general manager and taking care of the business end of things.

“As my dad said, we learned from each of our winemakers. Mark Foster was with us from 1985 until 1992 and Hugh Chappelle, who replaced him, was here from 1993 until 1999. We've had a couple of winemakers since then, but of our winemakers, those two set our style and taught us a lot about wine. Hugh still consults for us and is a family friend. We also found we could learn from people who worked with us and those who trained with us. Everyone seems to have something to teach and something to learn.”

“When we first started most of our wine was sold outside of our winery - at stores and restaurants. Now around 70 percent of our wine is sold at the winery. Our original capacity was 10,000 cases a year. With some modifications to our buildings, we now produce about 12,000 cases, using the 25 different varieties of grapes that grow here in the home vineyard and recently planted on our Pleasant Valley property” Paul said.

“The winery is now more innovative than ever. Recent improvements include a packaging overhaul and a new energy system that fuels the winery with solar power. Maggie has added another wine club, called the Madroña ROCs (Red Only Connoisseurs), and introduced a new Web page design along with an on-line store.

The wines are selling well in California despite what has been an over saturated market, and national distribution is expanding at an even greater pace than the increase in local sales. The future looks very bright and we are all excited.”

The 30th Anniversary wines will be poured at a special reception in the Madroña Vineyard's barrel room on Jan. 27 and 28, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is $15, and pre-registration on the winery's Website, MadronaVineyards.com, is recommended. The Bush family will also be hosting an invitation-only black tie gala to honor their parents and the many people who have made Madroña a success over the years.

Madroña Vineyards and Winery is located at 2560 High Hill Road in Camino. The winery is open for tasting daily from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The telephone number is 644-5948.