The Woodinville area developed as a farming and logging community along the Sammamish River Valley in the 1880s. Its close location to the major metropolitan area of Seattle as well as its natural wooded landscape and surroundings made it an inviting area for wineries to develop, with its first winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle, opening up in 1976. In 1988, Columbia Winery opened up across the street. Chateau Ste. Michelle's decision to build in Woodinville was a catalyst for the development of this wine country. Founded in 1934, a group of investors bought the winery in 1974 and wanted to move the bulk of the sales and marketing operation to the western side of the Cascade Range where the majority of the state's population resides. The winery then split up its wine making facilities, bringing the white wine production to Woodinville. This decision was also facilitated by the difficult commute through the mountain passes to Eastern Washington during the winter months, after the grapes have been harvested and the wine needs to be monitored and observed for the development of wine faults. Today the winery and tasting room host over 200,000 visitors a year.
Although many of the individual wineries host a number of events throughout the year, there are some annual events which involve multiple wineries. The Passport to Woodinville event was held once a year, usually in April, from 2002–2014, and provided the public with an opportunity to sample many of the area wineries for a single tasting fee. Participants received a passport filled with labels and information, a glass, and the opportunity to tour many local wineries, some of which were not regularly open to the public. 2014 was the last year for Passport, dubbed "Passport: Last Call". Passport was criticized for limiting people to visiting all of the wineries in a single weekend, which often led to public intoxication and an under-appreciation of the subtle differences in wine flavors. It also put a huge burden on wine tasting rooms, because of the crowds of people swarming the tasting rooms all at once. In 2016, Passport to Woodinville was reinstated as a year-round event, rather than a single event on a particular weekend. For a yearly Passport fee of around $50–60, the buyer is granted a free tasting at all participating wineries listed in a red life-sized Passport book, which is stamped or signed by each winery to indicate that a free tasting has been redeemed. The new Passport is good at any participating winery during the entire year, except during busy weekends at a small number of select wineries. Because it is distributed year-round instead of concentrated in a single weekend, the new Passport to Woodinville has approximately twice as many participating wineries as the old one. The Saint Nicholas Day Open House is a similar event typically held during the first weekend in December.
