Xmas Red Wine and Chocolate!

Thames Valley Local Wine School is running a red wine and chocolate pairing evening at the Reading Biscuit Factory on Wednesday 25 November, from 7:00pm. It's a two-hour tasting led by a wine tutor, and the whole thing is built around how red wine and chocolate actually work together.

They describe the pairing as notoriously difficult because of the cocoa bean's powerful taste, and that's exactly what the session works through. You'll sample sparkling, dry and sweet reds alongside six different styles of chocolate — white, milk, rich dark and flavoured among them — so you can see how the different profiles change the way the wine tastes. There are wine notes and handouts to follow along with, and an interactive presentation with a Q&A led by the tutor, so you're not just sipping in silence.

The evening is run by the Thames Valley Local Wine School, part of the Local Wine School Network, which bills itself as the world's fastest-growing network of independent wine schools. The venue, the Reading Biscuit Factory, is in the Broad Street Mall on the corner of Oxford Road and Queens Walk in the heart of town. It's a three-screen cinema, bar, coffee shop, live performance space and community hub that also programmes cheese and wine pairings and themed tastings like Christmas Port and Cheese.

Tickets are £45.00 for the two-hour session, which starts at 7:00pm on Wednesday 25 November.