Photo by Sam Yu Wine glasses were in abundance Sunday afternoon at Elk Run Winery at 15113 Liberty Rd. for a wine class titled "How wine is affected by the flavor and texture of the food and vice versa." Five wines and a champagne were tasted with various flavors and food.

I pick up a pinch of the herbes de Provence: lavender, thyme, fennel and more -- and crush them between my fingers before sprinkling them into the soup. I spoon the creamy soup into my mouth, let it slide across my tongue to open up the flavors, and swallow. Then I take another sip of the Riesling, and the flavor from the lavender flower explodes in my mouth like music in a cathedral.

My eyes open wide and I realize: Anybody who doesn't think food and wine have an interactive relationship must have problems with smelling and tasting things.

Carol Wilson, one of the owners of Elk Run Winery in Mount Airy, organizes educational programs at the winery to teach the public about different aspects of wine. The class I attended, "How Wine is Affected by the Flavor and Texture of the Food and Vice Versa," is part of a series of classes Wilson, her husband, winemaker Fred Wilson, and the rest of the Elk Run team has taught for the past decade.

"One of the aims of the classes is to help people learn about wines that are more unusual," Wilson said. She particularly enjoyed putting together the wine and food class, for which she prepared all of the foods herself.

"I played with combinations that you might not think about when planning the menu," she said.

Indeed, Wilson passed around an array of aromatics and enhancers to mix and match with the six Elk Run wines and six foods she offered. She started with that cauliflower soup and a phyllo tart shell filled with chicken salad, which she paired with Elk Run's Cold Friday Vineyard 2008 Chardonnay and Cold Friday Vineyard 2008 Riesling. The chicken salad made the Riesling taste sweeter than it tasted on its own, while a sip of the chardonnay created a sensation of tugging on the back of my tongue.

Next, Wilson offered Elk Run's 2005 Champagne Blanc de Blanc and Cold Friday Vineyard 2008 Cabernet Franc with roasted pork loin. The pork was plated with fresh plums, saut?ed mushrooms and a horseradish cream. Again, Wilson encouraged us to try the meat, fruit, vegetables and cream against the two wines. The sparkling wine tasted dry, but after a nibble of the plum it seemed sweeter. Meanwhile, swiping the pork through the horseradish cream caused the cabernet franc to explode with flavor.

Finally, we tasted a chocolate bread pudding made with rye bread, gingersnaps and some port truffles from The Perfect Truffle in Frederick against Elk Run's 2007 Cold Friday Vineyard Merlot and 2006 Vin de Jus Glace. Chocolate and red wine may seem like an odd pairing, but the merlot tasted velvety against the bitter and sour notes in the chocolate and rye of the bread pudding. The dessert brought out its jammy, fruity notes. Meanwhile, the gingersnap tasted far spicier after a sip of the vin de jus, which is an icewine made from frozen grapes.

While we tasted the wines, Wilson explained the process used at Elk Run to produce the wines. The chardonnay is aged in toasted French oak barrels, which give the wine its buttery flavor. Meanwhile, the sparkling wine requires four years to go from grape to glass, including ritual turnings and thumpings to settle and remove the sediment that occurs naturally during the winemaking process.

Elk Run is one of the oldest wineries in the region, celebrating its 30th year since its first planting. The winery takes its education programs seriously. Students who attend four different wine education classes are photographed for the "Hall of Fame," where they will be honored as "Elk Run scholars."

As Wilson said, "If you come to four classes, you should have a pretty good knowledge of wines, the ins and outs of how to taste."

Indeed, Elk Run invites the public to try a blind tasting on April 1 for those who feel they have a good grasp of how to identify the different wines on offer.

"Wine should be fun, not snobbery, and not snooty," Wilson said.