About 50 students, professors and local residents gathered in the lobby of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday at 5 p.m. to drink. But this is not the average college drinking scene. Tables are spread with white tablecloths and platters of cheese and crackers accompany bottles of chardonnay, cabernet and merlot.

In the past year, Krannert has sponsored free wine tastings every Thursday. At each meeting, tasters have a choice of three to four wines that they can sip for free and then buy at the bar for a reduced price of $3.50 a glass. The tastings were originally sponsored by Sun Singer Wines but have expanded to sometimes include representatives from Friar Tuck, The Corkscrew Wine Emporium and Persimmon grocery.

“It has turned out to be a very nice social occasion for a lot of people,” said Tammey Kikta, Krannert’s public Information officer. “A lot of new wine stores have opened in Champaign and Urbana in the past few years, and this gives people an opportunity to see what they have to offer.”

The wine tasting usually brings in about 50-100 people per week, said food service director Mike Steiskal. He said he is happy to see that the wine tastings have gathered a fairly regular following.

“Some people are coming here religiously week after week,” he said. “It’s centrally located, so a lot of people will come to relax after work or classes are over. Sometimes we provide music and snacks as well.”

Kikta and Steiskal said they are hoping to try other items for tasting, such as beer or food possibly during the summer.

Joe Thurmon, a representative from Sun Singer Wines and Judge and Dolph Wines, was at the wine tasting on Thursday to explain the tasting and were also there to promote the wine. He said the sponsors try to choose the wines based on the audience they are trying to target.

“Since most of the people who are out here are pretty young and a lot of them are first-time wine drinkers, we try to pick out some of the sweeter wines,” Thurmon said. “It also depends upon the season and what would be the best wine during each season. Other wines go better with specific foods.”

Graduate students Marian Eberhardt and Marcela Araya said they have come to the wine tastings whenever they can during the past year. They come with a group of fellow graduate students to relax and chat after their classes are over.

“It’s a good opportunity to try some different kinds of wines and listen to the bands that play sometimes,” Eberhardt said. “We just like to unwind and chill because it is getting close to the end of the week.”

Eberhardt said she had taken a wine tasting class during her undergraduate studies. Araya, however, had no previous tasting experience but does enjoy wine.

“It’s great to get to try what you want first and then go and get a glass,” Araya said. “And it’s nice that the glasses aren’t that expensive.”

Afterwards, Eberhardt said she will occasionally go to Sun Singer to buy a bottle of the wine that she discovered while tasting.