Viewfinder: Chris Gasbarro Shares the 411 on Wine and Wine Pairings

 has been in the wine and spirits business all his life. The owner of multiple liquor stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including one on Highland Avenue in Seekonk, Gasbarro visited on Thursday night to impart some of his knowledge to locals.

Gasbarro feels so strongly about his role in education that he created a function room above his Seekonk store to be able to host wine tasting events and classes for his customers.

On Thursday, his library session began with a Power Point presentation by Lindsay Morris, one of the expert consultants on hand in the store. She had the library guests rapidly filling pages with notes of suggested wines.

Gasbarro has been in business for over 30 years, and over the decades, he's needed more room. His current store in Seekonk draws patrons from across state borders and occupies 25,000 square feet. He used to set up shop where the Hess Gas Station now lives.

"When they moved all their stock to the new store they were amazed that they did not have a lot of empty shelves," Gasbarro said.

On Thursday, his knowledge did not go untapped. Gasbarro fielded questions from the library patrons about wine choices and food pairings.