It seems columns' content can only be aligned vertically with an extra wrapper. Without a wrapper inline-block children become blocks. Adding a wrapper is a workaround and a step backwards from table-cell.
Demo: https://codepen.io/radogado/pen/xXRJYE
Vertical alignment is extremely important and a bane to CSS for ages. Is there another method that I'm missing, or the spec should be changed?
Thanks.