In partnership with Bibendum, wine pairing dinners will be hosted throughout this year at Hotel du Vin in Cheltenham

Going for a few beers after work with your team is all very well - but Hotel du Vin in Cheltenham is offering something slighly more sophisticated.

Thanks to a partnership with Bibendum, wine pairing dinners are held throughout the summer, underneath the impressive crystal wine glass chandelier which hangs above the spiral staircase in the bar.

Along with 15 other guests, we at Business & Professional enjoyed canapes before a flight of sun-gorged Riojas from old-world producer Vivanco. Bibendum host Nadia Rae and sommelier Roberto Zanca proved a mine of information about the century-old vineyard as we tasted the 2015 Dinastia Vivanco Rioja Blanco with a starter of cured cod with green apple and crab dressing.

And a ‘which red’ guessing game resulted in the Colección 4 Varietales from 2014 being paired with our lamb rump, chorizo and ras el hanout main before the cheese course arrived. Terrific fun.

The next dates at Hotel du Vin are:

Friday October 20 – Rhône (£80pp)

Friday November 24 – Portuguese (£65pp)