Baxter Lynn resigns as Washington wine chief

After serving as executive director of the Washington Wine Commission for six months, Jane Baxter Lynn has left the job.

In a brief news release, the commission, a trade association, said she had departed ‘for personal reasons.’

Reached in Seattle, Baxter Lynn said only, ‘I’ve moved on.’ She plans to remain in Seattle and focus on the ‘international communications consulting firm’ she founded just before being hired.

In the announcement, Ted Baseler, commission chairman, said her predecessor for eight years, Steve Burns, would be interim director while a replacement was sought. Burns is to divide his time between Seattle and his California wine-industry consulting business.

‘Jane’s contributions over the last six months have made an impact on the Washington wine industry,’ Baseler said. A spokesman for Baseler said a legal agreement prevented Baseler from commenting further on Baxter Lynn’s departure.

In November, the commission introduced a large-scale promotion with the slogan ‘Washington State, the Perfect Climate for Wine.’

Baxter Lynn, former executive director of the Long Island Wine Council, began the job in late August.

Washington is the second-largest wine state after California. Its industry has grown from 19 wineries in 1981 to more than 300 today. The commission represents the wineries and 350 wine-grape growers.

Written by Howard G Goldberg in New York