The Continuing Education Department at Chattanooga State Community College offers a series of twelve wine tasting classes from March through May for wine lovers who wish to increase their knowledge of wine. All classes are held on Tuesdays, 7 – 8:30 p.m., at Create Here located at 55 E. Main Street.

Mindi Lamar is the instructor for each of the classes. Lamar has served on the steering committee of the Best Cellars event associated with Wine Over Water. Additionally, for the past three years, she has chaired the Bella Serta Wine Festival.

“Mindi comes highly recommended,” says Patricia Gardner, continuing education coordinator. “She is the hand-picked protégé of our former wine class instructor Brian Leutwiler.

During the months of March and April, wines from vineyards in countries with a long tradition of wine making will be studied. On March 6, Italian White Wines will focus on the hottest whites from around the Italian peninsula like Tuscany, Friuli, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Piedmont, Le Marche, Campania, and the island of Sardinia.

In the Italian Red Wines class, a great survey of reds from the Italian regions of Tuscany, Piedmont, Abruzzo, Umbria, Apulia, Campania and Sicily will take place on March 13. A study of classic whites from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Alsace, and the Rhone Valley will be the focus on March 27 in French White Wines.

On April 3, French Red Wines will sample the best reds that France, the world’s number one producer of wine, has to offer. Class participants will taste reds from Bordeaux, the Rhone Valley, Burgundy, the Loire Valley, and along the Mediterranean coast from Minervois, St. Chinian, Languedoc, Roussillon and Provence.

Classes highlighting the best value in red and white wines, for $12 and under, from around the world are included in the series. In the class set for April 17, participants will taste the hottest new white wine stars that are easy on the budget. On April 24, participants will taste through a provocative lineup of bargain Red Wines for under $12. These wines will come from just about everywhere red wine is made. The cost is $45 for each of the wine tasting classes held during the months of February, March and April.

On May 1, the level of decadence reaches a dramatic peak with Wine & Chocolate. For the past eight years, this class has been the overwhelming favorite. Sparkling Wines for Celebration and Everyday is scheduled for May 8. Whether it’s champagne from France, or sparkling wines from grapes from New Zealand, South Africa or around the world, participants will experience some of the top rated and affordable bubblies available just in time for the holidays. The cost for each class is $50.

Two new wines tasting classes that focus on wines from Spain and Germany conclude the twelve class series. The May 15 class will explore a variety of white and red wines from Spain, the third largest producer of wine in the world behind France and Italy. German style wines from sweet to dry will be sampled in the May 22 class that concentrates on white and red wines from the Rhine and Mosel and the Mosel’s Saar regions of Germany. The cost for these new classes is $45 for each.

Class size is limited and participants must be 21 years of age to enroll in any of the wine tasting classes. Refunds will not be given within 48 hours of the scheduled class a participant is enrolled in. To register call Chattanooga State’s Continuing Education Department at (423) 697-3100. Registration is also available online at www.chattanoogastate.edu/continuinged.