A group of bloggers — 170 or so of us — is currently in Santa Rosa, California, at the first ever Wine Bloggers Conference. It’s incredibly geeky and so far fun. I’ll be updating a few times this afternoon.

First taste of the day will be the 2005 Bink Pinot Noir, Weir Vineyard. Three clones, vinified separately and blended before bottling. Here’s a picture of it. Yay for multimedia! Tastewise, it’s a nice, medium-bodied Pinot that’s not pretending to be Syrah, which I appreciate greatly.

Update: next up is Clos La Chance — 2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. About 1200 cases, $30 retail. That’s Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 drinking it with Russ Beebe, the Winehiker in the background.

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So there are various baseball players with charity wines, and celebrities who have endorsed things like Prosecco. These all fall into the gimmick category, and it’s doubtful that wine afficionados will purchase any of these items, except perhaps as a novelty collectible (or as a gag gift).

We haven’t heard much about serious wines made by actors and such, until a friend sent us a link to an event on an early September weekend at Wally’s in Westwood (Los Angeles for those of you out of the area). It’s to honor the release of a Walla Walla Cabernet, “pursued by bear,” made by Kyle McLachlan and assistant winemaker Eric Dunham.

Maybe it’s just the strange picture, but this all sort of seems like a joke — like something out of a David Lynch film, or one of the more minor works by Christopher Guest.

But, rest assured, it’s not. Twin Peaks and Walla Walla Cab fans unite! Your prayers have been answered.

We’re always looking for reasonably priced Cabs, and while this is creeping up there in price, $28 is still more than reasonable for what you get. Concentration of black fruit, some peppery spice, a hint of structure and layers of complexity. While labeled a Cab, this is more a blend, with Cab coming in at 76% and Merlot, Syrah and Malbec making up the balance. I want some Walla Walla