What’s your wine IQ? Bellefonte classes aim to take away the mystery, teach basics and beyond

For those looking to expand their knowledge of all things wine, options for wine education are limited in Centre County. One could visit their local wine and spirits store and pick up a bottle off the shelf for tasting at home, but, often, that leads to misguided purchases and a lot of money spent. As for wine tasting by the glass at restaurants, there aren’t too many spots where one could go and taste a range of wines that aren’t already familiar.

Wines by the Class hopes to fill this void for the wine-curious, offering class participants a comfortable, unintimidating space in which to learn about wine and their own personal wine preferences.

“I think that people are intimidated by wine, and I feel like I have a knack for being able to explain it without making people uncomfortable, or feeling like they’re out of their depth, or that they’re being talked down to,” said Lucy Rogers, tasting room manager at Big Spring Spirits and founder of Wines by the Class.

“The service that we feel like we’re providing is an opportunity for people to learn, so that they’re better guided when they go to the store. It’s a chance for them to figure out their preferences,” she said, “so that when they go to the store, they’re not wandering around going, ‘Oh, I think I want red because it’s cold out tonight. What am I going to drink?’ And maybe you know that you like Merlot, and you’re going to wander over to the Merlot section, but then that’s where it ends for a lot of people and then it becomes about the label and the price. I think that’s a shame, because if you could just learn a little bit, it could really steer you in a much bigger, better, more focused way.”

Rogers launched Wines by the Class in January with the help of the brand’s head of social, Kate Kenealy. Both have long histories working in food and hospitality, with Rogers taking a specific focus to wine, including a stint as the managing director for Club Wine International.

Each Wine by the Class session takes place at the Big Spring Spirits tasting room in Bellefonte. The first Monday of every month, a class is offered focusing on wine basics, covering topics such as the basic vinifera grapes, wine terminology, how to read a wine label, how to taste wine and more. More focused classes are also offered each month, focusing on specific groups of wines, such as red, white and sparkling varieties. Each class is about a 45-minute to 60-minute lecture and presentation, followed by a tasting of six wines. Each attendee receives a tasting notebook and Rogers stresses that the focus is truly on education versus just a tasting. So far, they say the response has been highly positive.

Kenealy adds that she’s been the perfect test subject for the courses, as she was exactly the brand’s intended audience before coming on board.

“I’ve been buying the same three wines for many years,” she laughs. “I have a red that I like, I have a white that I like, and I have a sparkling that I like, and I have those three in my home all the time, and I never branched out. The thing that’s great about the Wine Basics Class is we’re trying six different wines, six different grapes, basically. That has really expanded (my viewpoint to) ‘OK, I usually drink a red blend, a white blend and a sparkling, but now I know that I hate Syrah, but I love Cab.’ So, now I know when I go to the store, maybe I’ll pick a Cab this time. It’s all about building your knowledge little by little, in a way that’s not earth-shattering, but maybe next time you’ll try something different.”

In the future, Rogers is looking to expand Wine by the Class’s offerings, with classes held more often, in other community locations or on a private basis, for groups and corporate events. She’s also considering offering wine education services directly to restaurant wait staffs.

“We’re taking all the mystery and the intimidation out of (wine),” Rogers said. “That’s really the point. You take this basics class and you’re going to learn some language, and you’re going to feel a lot more comfortable when you go into the store and when you’re ordering in a restaurant.”

Learn more about Wines by the Class and register for an upcoming class at www.winesbytheclasspa.com.