IT IS IN THE NATURE OF THINGS we love to want to trace them to their beginnings. It is also in the nature of things we love to enjoy sharing them with others. Put the two together, add a ship, and that is what wine enthusiasts can expect on a wine cruise. Sail along historic rivers, disembark to visit wineries, walk the vineyards, taste the wines and later, on the ship, enjoy dinner with other wine lovers while sipping wines highlighting your meal. A wine-rich day ends with a peaceful night’s sleep as the ship sails on to tomorrow’s vinous treat.

One of the world’s cruise lines, AmaWaterways, offers the wine lover a host of such pleasures. It has, in fact, 65 wine-themed cruises scheduled along Europe’s rivers for 2020. They cover wineries along the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers in Bordeaux, the Rhine, the Main, the Danube and other rivers, visiting famed wine regions and introducing guests to less well-known ones.

For example, AmaWaterways’ seven-day Taste of Bordeaux cruise begins and ends in the city of Bordeaux and introduces passengers to both well-known and lesser-known châteaux. Another of its French wine cruises, Colors of Provence, sails along the Rhône River from Lyon to Arles.

Moving eastward in Europe, the cruise line’s seven-day Gems of Southeast Europe embarks from Budapest and sails along the Danube River through the less familiar wine worlds of Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

A new AmaWaterways wine cruise, Treasures of the Main and Rhine Rivers, leaves from Nuremberg and finishes in Amsterdam, with visits to wineries and vineyards as well as medieval architectural treasures along the rivers.

A cruise sailing from Amsterdam to Basel, AmaWaterways’ Rhine & Moselle Fairy Tales, feels, at times, like a fairy tale come to life as it combines Europe’s steepest vineyards along the Moselle with lovely white wines and old, storybook- like villages.

And AmaWaterways offers still more wine cruises. Prices vary according to the cruise, the choice of stateroom and the length of the sail. Welcome aboard.