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From the archives: Eric Dunham, a winemaker of many talents [Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Wash.](Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (WA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 24--This story was originally published in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin on Feb. 5, 2003. Clad in a sweater, faded jeans and brown leather hiking boots, Eric Dunham is indistinguishable from the average working-class thirtysomething. But among Pacific Northwest winemakers, he stands out as the complete package in artistry and industry spirit. His winemaking has garnered Dunham Cellars medals in national competitions and mention in world wine magazines' best-of lists. Not only is he known for artistry in making wine, his hand-painted designer bottles have commanded thousands of dollars at benefit auctions. Then, too, are his culinary arts and his devotion to raising money for charities and community groups. The 5,000-case winery owned by Eric Dunham and his father, Mike Dunham, donates packages of artisan wines and gourmet dinners to more than a dozen benefit auctions, raising tens of thousands of dollars each year. For those reasons, Dunham, 32, was picked as this year's Washington's wine ambassador for the annual Classic Wines Auction, to be held March 8 in Portland. One of the Top 10 charity wine auctions in the nation and an important fund-raiser in Oregon, the 20-year-old auction has raised more than $6 million for Portland's Metropolitan Family Service programs. Although he attributes his fund-raising activism to his grandparents, Dunham was dangerously ill as a child, and received medical care provided in part by funds from a charity wine auction. At age 4, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Surgery and follow-up treatments were handled by Seattle's Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, the main beneficiary of the state wine industry's annual Auction of Washington Wines. "I'm trying to raise as much money as I can for these auctions," said Dunham, who last year spent four months on the road marketing his wines in 30 states and Japan and participating in charity auctions. "There're hundreds of great causes out there." One of those is the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Each year, Dunham makes 150 cases of Dunham Cellars Shirley Mays Semillon, named after his grandmother, who died in 1983 from breast cancer. All profits from those cases go to the foundation. Dunham's "incredible generosity" and artistic talent isn't surprising to Linda Moran, director of the Auction of Washington Wines. "People have been surprised about how versatile he is -- a great artist and a great winemaker," she said. "But he's like many winemakers; they aren't just one-dimensional." A love of food Kicking back recently at a long dining table he built for his winery, Dunham is surrounded by paintings, racks of new French and American oak wine barrels and numerous glasses containing samples of recently fermented syrah from the 2002 vintage. The subject of conversation is the convergence of wine, painting and cooking in his life. Food, naturally, came first. "I missed most of grade school (because of his childhood illness), so I hung around my grandmother and watched her cook," he said. He calls his cuisine a "fusion" of many others -- Thai dishes to complement Spanish paella, for example. Forever experimenting from his smokehouse to his kitchen, he said one of his goals is to get his 5-year-old winery facility "up and running to a point where I can get a culinary degree." "I don't want to be a chef," he added. "I just want their knowledge." His interest in wine also started early, with his father permitting Dunham and his sister a little wine at dinner. "I always had a curiosity about why one wine tasted this way and why another tasted that way," he said. But Dunham was years away from choosing a career. That decision would come after high school, four years in the U.S. Navy, a degree in irrigation and fluid dynamics from Walla Walla Community College, and an engineering internship at a Boise Cascade pulp tree farm. "It wasn't my calling," Dunham said. He found his calling in 1993 during a father-son fishing trip in Oregon. During a dinner conversation over a bottle of Leonetti, his father asked him what he really wanted to do. "I told him I wanted to open a winery," Dunham said. "He said, 'Well, why not work at a winery first?' " They cut short their vacation and headed north to tour the Yakima Valley wine region. That fall, Dunham started a 7-month winemaking internship at Hogue Cellars in Prosser, Benton County. He parlayed that experience into becoming assistant winemaker to L'Ecole No. 41 co-owner and winemaker Martin Clubb, who allowed Dunham and his father to use L'Ecole's facilities to experiment with making their own premium wine. In 1995, while still working at L'Ecole, Dunham's first wines -- 400 cases total of cabernet sauvignon and syrah -- hit the market. In 1998, father and son began operating their own winery near the Walla Walla Regional Airport. Despite all his awards and critical acclaim since, Dunham said his winemaking is an art pretty much dictated by nature and careful selection of oak to use as a spice. "Winemaking is more about knowing what to do and what not to do to manipulate it, and to just let it develop," he said. A gift for painting That philosophy also applies to his painting. He began nurturing that creative side of himself at age 24 as "more of a release, a way to let me focus my energy and let it out." "Most of my art is conceptual," said Dunham, adding he paints a section of canvas, then stands back to evaluate it before proceeding. "I go with what develops." Some of his works on canvas, such as "Red Horse Painting," which was used for his 1999 Lewis Vineyard Syrah labels, were painted in a single day. He works on others over several years, such as "Angel of Daisies," which will grace labels on his soon-to-be-released 2001 Columbia Valley Syrah. Innovation is another Dunham trait. Last year, he jumped at a marketing suggestion his retail manager, Shannon Bergevin, picked up at Washington wine trade meeting: double-layered back labels. Double-layered back labels are common on Australian wines. The outer label is identical to the one below it, glued to the glass, with both stating the brand, vintage and winemaker notes. But to help forgetful diners remember what they enjoyed at a restaurant or party so they can later buy another bottle at a store, the outer label can easily be peeled off and stuck in a pocket. Dunham also is one of few winemakers in the nation who hand-dips the heads of his wine bottles in wax after corking instead of using plastic or metal capsules. The feature provides a better seal to prevent oxygen from spoiling wine intended for years of cellaring. Waxing has its commercial merits, Dunham said, but like many things he does, it also appeals to the artisan in him. "I love the aesthetics of it," he said. "It takes more effort, but it stands out on the shelves." ___ (c)2014 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.) Visit Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.) at union-bulletin.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |