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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Townshend buys Caterina

Plans call for reopening wine bar

Local winemaker Don Townshend has bought downtown Spokane’s Caterina Winery with a plan to reopen the business as a destination wine bar.

Opened in 1991 by Spokane residents Don and Heather Barbieri, Caterina Winery was one of Spokane’s first homegrown wineries and wine bars. It takes up the main floor of the historic Broadview Dairy at 905 N. Washington St.

The recent sale involved the company’s assets, name and trademark, but not the Broadview building, said Stephen Barbieri, president of Caterina Trust, the winery’s previous owner.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Caterina was closed for remodeling in December. Townshend hopes to reopen the winery there in February although that depends on the city’s approval of his remodeling plans.

For the past decade Townshend has owned and operated Townshend Cellar winery in Green Bluff. He intends to keep his wines distinct from those labeled by Caterina Winery.

He said he hopes to make some Caterina-labeled wine inside the Broadview Dairy building, but it’s possible he’ll also use leased space elsewhere to supplement production. At present Townshend leases space from Preston Wine Cellars in Pasco to produce some wine.

“I did this,” Townshend said of the Caterina purchase, “because it was something I thought deserved the chance to stay alive instead of folding.”