Celebrities Who Own Wineries: Kyle MacLachlan, Pursued by Bear and His Dad

One of Shakespeare’s most quoted stage directions is five words long: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”

It comes from The Winter’s Tale. The man exiting is Antigonus, and he doesn’t make it. It’s a bleak moment, but it somehow became one of the funniest lines in theatre, and then an actor decided it belonged on a wine label.

That actor is Kyle MacLachlan, best known as FBI Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. The winery is Pursued by Bear. But the joke is the least interesting thing about it.

---

Quick Facts

• Pursued by Bear was founded by Kyle MacLachlan with winemaker Eric Dunham, and the first wine came out in 2005
• MacLachlan grew up in Yakima, Washington, and the wines come from the Columbia Valley
• The first vintage was about 300 cases, according to Decanter
• The name comes from the stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear” in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
• MacLachlan became sole proprietor in 2016, and a Walla Walla tasting room opened in 2023

---

He Grew Up Picking Apples in Yakima, Not Sipping Cabernet in Napa

Most celebrity wine stories start in California, but this one starts in an orchard.

MacLachlan grew up in Yakima, in Washington State’s fruit and wine country. “Growing up in Yakima was all about gardens and orchards, picking apples and peaches,” he told KOMO News. He credits his father’s garden as his first lesson in farming, calling it “a never-ending lesson in agriculture.”

So when he decided to make wine, Napa was the obvious celebrity answer. Instead, he skipped it, telling KOMO that Napa “was too pricey” and didn’t feel like home.

I love that reason. It isn’t romantic or clever. Instead, it’s what anyone says when the rent is too high.

The Road Trip That Turned Into a Winery

Around 2002, MacLachlan visited his father in Yakima and the two went on a wine-country road trip to Walla Walla, the Washington wine town near the Oregon border. When they stopped at Dunham Cellars, MacLachlan invited the winemaker, Eric Dunham, to collaborate, and Dunham said yes.

The first Pursued by Bear wine came out in 2005. It was a tiny batch, about 300 cases, or roughly 3,600 bottles. MacLachlan has described the start in plain terms: “It was a mad caper. I came in completely clueless, but with a passion to learn.”

What He Was Really Buying Was Time With His Dad

Here’s the part that most celebrity wine profiles skip. According to Decanter, MacLachlan was motivated partly by wanting more time with his father. His father died in 2011, six years after that first release.

“I always say that men’s relationships with their fathers are about doing things together,” he said. What was said on that road trip isn’t on record, as far as I can find. But what he chose to build wasn’t a cologne.

Think about the difference. A licensing deal needs an afternoon and a lawyer, while a winery needs harvests, blending sessions, and years of showing up. So choosing the slow, annoying option says something about what he was after.

Is He Actually in the Room, or Just on the Label?

This is the question I ask about every celebrity label, because the answers vary wildly. Gérard Depardieu ran his Château de Tigné estate himself for three decades. Meanwhile, Sarah Jessica Parker is hands-on in the blending for her New Zealand wines. Still, plenty of other famous names never get near a barrel.

MacLachlan sits in the middle, and he’s open about it. He isn’t the winemaker. Dan Wampfler is, and he started at Dunham Cellars. When Wampfler moved to Abeja in 2016, MacLachlan kept working with him. KOMO quotes MacLachlan on his own part: “When the grapes come in, Dan and I dive into blending trials to get the perfect mix.”

He also became the sole proprietor in 2016, and a downtown Walla Walla tasting room opened in 2023. That’s a long way from a name on a bottle.

The Wines: One Serious Cabernet and a Few for Tuesday

The lineup has grown well beyond that first Cabernet. As The Cellar Door listed it in January 2024, the flagship Pursued by Bear Cabernet ran about $70. The Twin Bear Chardonnay was about $40. The cheaper bottles, the Bear Cub red blend and the Blushing Bear Rosé, sat around $28 to $35.

Prices will have moved since then, so check the winery before you quote them. The shape is what matters, though. There’s a serious bottle for a special dinner, and there are cheaper ones meant to be opened on a weeknight.

Does It Pass the Celebrity Wine Test?

I haven’t tasted it, and I couldn’t find a big critic score, so I won’t pretend I have one. What I can do is run it through the four questions I use on any celebrity wine.

1. Is the celebrity still in the room? Yes. He sits in on the blends, and he also owns the whole thing.
2. Is it from where they’re from? Yes. Yakima kid, Washington wine.
3. Has it lasted? Yes. It’s been going since 2005, and The Cellar Door points to an Oregon Live line that, 18 years in, the brand “is still around.”
4. Does the wine hold up on its own? This is the one I can’t fully answer. Wine Folly described the 2019 Cabernet as having “polished tannins” that are “restrained and balanced,” and Wine Enthusiast’s Michael Alberty praised the Chardonnay’s acidity. Sip Magazine says the 2019 Cabernet consistently earns 90 points or higher from reviewers, though it doesn’t name the scores.

Three clear passes and one “probably.” My position: a celebrity wine passes if the celebrity is still in the room after the launch party. By that standard, this one does, which is more than most can say.

Is it a better wine than the famous Napa Cabernets? I have no evidence for that and I won’t claim it. But I’d trust this label more than ones where the star’s only contribution was the photo shoot. Compare it to Coppola, who bought a Napa estate, went bankrupt, and later bought back the Inglenook name. This story, by contrast, is smaller and far calmer.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kyle MacLachlan make his own wine? He co-created Pursued by Bear and owns it outright, but winemaker Dan Wampfler makes the wine. MacLachlan joins the blending trials once the grapes come in.

Where is Pursued by Bear wine made? The grapes come from vineyards across Washington State’s Columbia Valley, while the winery’s home is Walla Walla, where a downtown tasting room opened in 2023.

What does the name Pursued by Bear mean? It’s a nod to a famous stage direction in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”

How much does Pursued by Bear wine cost? As of January 2024, entry-level bottles ran about $28 to $35, and the flagship Cabernet about $70. Check the winery for current prices.

Is Kyle MacLachlan’s wine any good? I haven’t tasted it, but Wine Folly praised the 2019 Cabernet’s tannins, and Wine Enthusiast praised the Chardonnay’s acidity. Sip Magazine says the 2019 Cabernet consistently scores 90 points or higher from reviewers.

---

“Exit, pursued by a bear” is a stage direction for leaving. Most celebrity wines do the same once the launch party ends. In 2005 an actor from Twin Peaks put that line on a label, and then, unlike most, he didn’t leave.

— Kelly 🍷

#CelebrityWinery #KyleMacLachlan #WashingtonWine #PursuedByBear #WineAndPeople

---

Continue Reading

• Château Miraval: The $164M Wine War Between Brad and Angelina
• Cameron Diaz’s Wine Brand Started a Fight With the Federal Government
• Celebrities Who Own Wineries: Andrea Bocelli’s Tuscany Estate