Yet another positive change at Columbia Winery

A lot of good things have happened at Columbia Winery since Ascentia Wine Estates purchased the longtime Washington winery.

Not the least of which is this: no more annoying "age verification" deal to get to the Web site.

This seems to be a Constellation Brands policy, as it still appears on Hogue Cellars' Web site. Constellation sold Columbia and Covey Run to Ascentia last year.

I've never understood the point of age verification. It won't stop someone from visiting the site. If it is to keep someone from reading about alcohol, that's just silly. If it's to collect data about Web site visitors, well, Constellation probably thinks I'm a lot older because I've never actually put in my correct birth date; I've always put some random date in the 1950s or '40s just to get past the page as quickly as I could.

Thumbs up to Ascentia for doing its part to make the Internet ever-so-slightly less annoying.