The South Seattle Community College's Northwest Wine Academy threw its first of two free tasting parties of their student-made wines on campus.

It took place Friday night, June 12. The wines included Riesling, Rose, Viognier and Barbera. Academy students choose one of three tracks, sale and marketings, wine production, or wine and food paring.

"Barbera is a jucier, dark color grape, purply black," explained Reggie Daigneault, the wine academy's program coordinator and fulltime faculty member. "This is the first time we vinified it. The grapes were given to us from Stan Baty of Alder Ridge Vineyard."

The vineyard is located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area) within the Columbia Valley AVA. The grapes originated in Piedmont, Northwest Italy.

"Every bottle of wine has a story behind it," said Nancy Kedward, wine sales and marketing student at the academy. "What's neat about all our grapes is that they are donated to the college. Students pick the grapes we make wine right here."

The second tasting was Saturday, June 13, noon to 4 p.m.