Vino Collabos 3: You Can Go Home Again...and Make Cabernet

While the Vino Collabos series has been all about the hip-hop collaborations with other musicians up to this point, bear with us as (get it?) we make a foray into American classical literature.

In the Thomas Wolfe novel You Can't Go Home Again up and coming author and main protagonist George Webber depicts his hometown in way that doesn't necessarily please those he's left behind in Libya Hill. At the end of Wolfe’s novel, Webber exclaims "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time — back home to the escapes of Time and Memory." To that Kyle Maclachlin says, "Don't be such a whiner, home is where the heart is, and where some of the world's best wine is being made, get back there and enjoy it." (Kyle never actually said that, but he might have thought it.)

Famous son of Eastern Washington Wine Country, Yakima's Kyle MacLachlan left the Evergreen State for the draw of Hollywood, the tutelage of David Lynch and a long lived career in film and television. Kyle, however, has gone home again, and when he went back home he partnered with Eric Dunham of Dunham Cellars to produce one helluva Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.


The wine, Pursued by Bear ($65), is more than just a hobbyist’s passing go at making wine because he can. This wine is for real as is Kyle's focus on a serious and world class Washington wine. It's a substantial expression of Washington fruit, a big bold wine and yet another example of the skills and knowledge that Eric Dunham brings to the wine-making stage. MacLachlan and Dunham met when the actor was in the market for some large format Walla Walla wines for his wedding. The two hit it off and when Kyle, who’d been a serious wine drinker for quite sometime, decided to give making wine a go, his collaboration with Dunham seemed a natural and easy way to “go home again.”

The 2006 vintage of Pursued by Bear is 75% Cabernet, 17% Merlot and 8% Syrah. The fruit is sourced from Lewis Estate Vineyard and Phinny Hill Vineyard within the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The wine sees 100% new oak (and some two years in the barrel, plenty of time.

The result of this collaboration, besides the great name and label(borrowed from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale) is a beautiful dark plum colored wine. There is a roasted coffee nose - compliments of the oak program - and tons of layered dark black fruits including plums and berries on the palate. The most impressive feature of the wine is its excellent structure and balance. I enjoyed the hell out of this wine, think of it as Purple Velvet, instead of Blue Velvet. The impression this wine leaves is not that of a new guy's foray into wine making. It's clear that the skill and experience with Washington vineyard sites and fruit on the part of Eric Dunham is on display. As Kyle and Eric continue to develop this wine, from blending, to the oak program I imagine it will only get better. That thought alone is impressive.

(Wine was provided as a sample.)

Winemakers Rock out with their Corks out, 3rd Annual Wine Rocks Seattle

Seattle Wine Rocks 2010 - Images by Alan Alabastro

Wine Rocks got off to a strange start this year with a small group of wine enthusiast/geologists who had become confused by the event title, and had been operating under the assumption that this whole wine rocks thing was about wine and rocks. And while the geology of Washington State is to "blame" for all the top notch wine that is being made here in Washington, it wasn't that kinda party.

While the rocks do help make amazing wine, there's another side to that equation: the winemakers, who spent the event rocking out, uh, with their corks out. Rob Newsome of Bourdreaux Cellars out of Leavenworth gave us a sense of his southern Louisiana roots with a little blues action to kick off the event. After Rob; Paul Gregutt and some renegade-looking rockers, The Paul Gregutt band took to the stage followed by Jamie Brown of Waters Winery out of Walla Walla (and winemaker of one of my favorite Syrahs in the world with their Forgotten Hills). Jamie went a bit wild on us, he was not messing around, donning black and sunglasses he unleashed a obscenity-filled can of lyrical whoopass upon us. I want to say that Gordy Rawson of Chatter Creek went on last, but I might be wrong about that. There was also this young cat who was very handsome and could sing quite well. I didn't catch his name but he was wearing a knit cap, or the Canadians would call it, a touk. My man could sing like a canary, or maybe something more sultry but I just couldn't get past how warm his head must have been.


Oh, there was wine at this event, and as a wine blogger, I should probably talk a bit about that. There was a lot of wine, a lot, and I didn't get to drink all of it, but I definitely hit some of the highlights.

The Cabernet Sauvignon from Walla Walla Vintners was one of the wines that I've not had before and so I was pleased to give this wine a whirl. The wine is 100% Sagemoor fruit from what may be Washington state's oldest vines. This wine had very chocolatey notes on the palate and an excellent finish. I was very impressed.

I was also happy to see one of my favorites from last year's event, Donedei Wines, pouring their Cabernet and Merlot. Both wines are from some of Washington's most amazing vineyards, Ciel du Cheval and Elephant Mountain. Carolyn Lakewold is making amazing wines down near Olympia, so go see them if you get the chance.


The real treat of the evening for me were the two Syrahs that Eric Dunham was pouring. I hadn't met Eric before but made a lot of assumptions about him based on his rock star winemaker status. Pairing up with the guy from Dune doesn't seem to have effected Eric. He was friendly and given how loud it was with all that rocking that was going on, he was patient with my questions. His Syrahs, the Double River and Frenchtown, are both single-vineyard 2005 Syrahs from Walla Walla. The Frenchtown was my favorite of the two; an elegant wine that is a confident example of Washington Syrah.

Wine Rocks number three is in the books, and the Hard Rock Cafe proved a worthy site, the crowd was bumping with another sellout. The beneficiary of the event was Art Corps, the community organization that seeks to grant access to art education to children from all socio-economic communities. We also benefited as these vintners were pouring top shelf wines, many of the wines we were tasting ranged from $35-$65. They weren't holding anything back. Jamie Peha put on another fabulous event again this year; good job, Jamie.