Paula Eakin is an Assistant Winemaker at Columbia Crest Winery in Paterson, Washington. Columbia Crest is the leading producer of premium wine in Washington state. Eakin works with Head Winemaker Ray Einberger and White Winemaker Keith Kenison to craft the white wines in Columbia Crest s acclaimed Two Vines, Grand Estates, and Reserve portfolios. Born in Spokane, Washington and raised in northern Idaho, Eakin moved to the Columbia Valley in the sixth grade. After earning a degree in food and nutrition sciences at the University of Idaho, she returned to the Tri-Cities hoping to find a job in the food industry. Instead, she answered an ad for a lab technician at Chateau Ste. Michelle s Grandview, Washington facility, and was hired to work there in 1993. When I started at Grandview I knew there was red wine and white wine, and that s about it, laughs Eakin. Though new to wine, Eakin learned quickly, moving to Ste. Michelle s Canoe Ridge, Washington facility as a lab technician in 1994. Eakin joined Columbia Crest as an enologist in 2001, and became an assistant winemaker in 2004. For Eakin, the team approach to winemaking is what distinguishes Columbia Crest. I really enjoy wine, but the people involved make a huge difference, she explains. To me, Ray Einberger is a master winemaker, an artist who knows what it takes to make really great wines. Getting the chance to learn about white wines from him, and to work with Keith Kenison and the rest of the team, is what drew me to Columbia Crest. Far from a wine novice, Eakin now creates some of Columbia Crest s most celebrated wines, including the Grand Estates Chardonnay and, more recently, steel-aged wines such as Pinot Grigio and Gewürztraminer. When she is not making wine, Eakin, who lives with her family in Kennewick, Washington, enjoys reading, cross stitching, and travel.