Pursued by Bear: Kyle MacLachlan’s pursuit of fine wine and a taste of home

Actor Kyle MacLachlan grew up in rural Yakima, Washington, and went to college in Seattle at the University of Washington.

MacLachlan starred in Dune, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks early in his career, a resume that set him up as a cult figure of sorts.

A very successful actor, in both film, television and theatre, he has spent much of his life living between New York City and Los Angeles.

Yet MacLachlan always felt deeply drawn to home and – despite a vocal appreciation for a fine cup of coffee – believes in the state’s potential as a world-class place to produce fine wine.

Notes and scores for Pursued by Bear wines below

No place like home

For MacLachlan, the idea of making a Washington wine was a way to spend time with his father (who passed away in 2011). ‘My return to Washington was motivated by a few different things,’ he says.

‘A big reason was to spend more time with my dad, to be honest. He was getting older. When I was growing up, he was a gentleman farmer with orchards and gardens. He loved it. I knew he’d love those elements about the growing and making of wine, too.

He continues: ‘I always say that men’s relationships with their fathers are about doing things together, you’re not talking, you’re facing forward, doing something. Wine was something we could do together. I’d pick him up, and we’d drive to Walla Walla, and work on this. It was lovely for us to be able to do that for the first few years of this project.’

MacLachlan definitely had a Washington wine ‘a-ha!’ moment.

‘Indeed, it was a single vineyard red blend, a 1995 vintage from the Elerding Vineyard, near where I grew up in Yakima, made by Wineglass Cellars (which since closed in 2015) in the Rattlesnake Hills appellation,’ he recalls.

‘When I tasted that, I’ll be honest, I was sceptical, but it was delicious. Not long after that, I tasted a 1999 Dunham Cellars Syrah for my wedding reception, made by Eric Dunham (MacLachlan’s first winemaker). I knew there was something serious here.’

The Bard’s wine

In 2005, MacLachlan partnered with Eric Dunham at Walla Walla’s Dunham Cellars to release his wine Pursued by Bear, a nod to the odd stage direction in Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale.

It was initially a single Cabernet Sauvignon project, sourced from two vineyards in the broader Columbia Valley appellation, using 100% new French oak.

‘Growing up, there was no winemaking world here in Washington. Some of the earlier wines we produced at Pursued by Bear were quite good. It was validating, not just for me, but for my sense of pride in my home state.

‘I made 300 cases in my first vintage, at Dunham Cellars. I remember telling Eric, well, that was fun. And the winemaker Eric Dunham said: “No, now you have to sell it. And now you have to start thinking about the next vintage”.

‘Early on, I could pop in and pop out, and it was fun, but it was more something I did when I could. In 2014, I started getting really serious about it. I started paying attention to the different cooperages, the vineyard sources.’

Truth be told, MacLachlan doesn’t talk about his wines like your typical celebrity who has started a wine brand. He’s decidedly tuned in to things on both the growing and production side.

Citing cooperages, vineyards and appellations like someone who is clearly paying attention to how all of those things can impact the wine. He’s paying attention and learning as he goes.

A sense of place, and home

MacLachlan explains: ‘Eric [Dunham] introduced me to the wine community in Walla Walla, and I fell in love with it all. I have some credibility, too, because I’m not just some actor from Hollywood, dropping in to do a vanity project. I grew up here.’

In 2008, MacLachlan added a Syrah, the Baby Bear, which coincided with the birth of his son. He has added the Twin Bear bottlings since then, including a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The Twin Bear wines will be designated as single-appellation or single-vineyard wines.

These days, MacLachlan collaborates with long-time Washington winemaker Dan Wampfler, who currently makes the wine (alongside his wife, Amy) at Abeja Cellars, having also worked at Dunham Cellars and Columbia Crest.

While deferring to Wampfler – ‘I work with people who are really smart’ MacLachlan explains – he is involved in blending decisions.

‘I sit with them a couple times a year for blending,’ says MacLachlan, as well as weighing in on the oak selection.

A Washington boy through and through, MacLachlan knows that the region may have a style, or as he calls it, a ‘Washington profile’, while at the same time boasting a diversity of terroirs and vineyard sites.

‘We’ve been sourcing from the Sagemoor group in White Bluffs, and Les Collines in Walla Walla, which has a new vineyard manager, though the vineyard has been a prominent one here in Washington for a long time.’

MacLachlan assumed sole proprietorship of the brand in 2016. The same year, Pursued by Bear launched an entry-level red wine and a Chardonnay (which came online in 2023), aimed at larger production and national distribution, called Bear Cub.

‘That was the year that I seemed to have gotten very excited about this project, and started sourcing fruit from a number of different vineyards,’ he explains. ‘My exuberance led to us having more wine than we knew what to do with, which became sort of a problem, which we solved by making more wine.’

While the industry is experiencing a difficult moment, MacLachlan is fully committed to his home state and the wines that can be produced throughout Washington.

He’s navigated partnering and then going solo, growing the brand and notably developing relationships with growers and winemakers that show his belief in Washington’s wine community.

As Dorothy said, there’s no place like home.

The current releases of Pursued by Bear:

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