The Wine Knows

The Seattle Times is reporting that Columbia Winery will move out of Woodinville to Eastern Washington next spring. It will look to open a tasting room somewhere in the Woodinville/Seattle area.

Columbia began in 1962 as Associated Vintners, the first Washington winery to focus on using classic European wine grape varieties. It was launched in Seattle by several University of Washington professors, led by Lloyd Woodburne.

The building it is in now - near Red Hook Brewery, Chateau Ste. Michelle and The Herbfarm restaurant - used to be Haviland Winery, which went bankrupt in the late '80s. Columbia Winery moved in soon after.

Columbia will move its winemaking operation to its Sunnyside location, where most of its wines already are made. Same goes for Covey Run and Paul Thomas, two other brands. About 20 of the winery's 54 jobs will move to the Yakima Valley, which is much closer to the winery's grape sources.

Columbia is owned by Constellation Brands, the world's largest wine company. Until recently, the Spirit of Washington dinner train ran through Woodinville, stopping at Columbia. According to winery officials, the train's relocation to Tacoma (and eventual demise) did not affect tourism dollars nearly as much as expected.

One thing to work out: the events planned at the winery through December 2008 that already are on the calendar.