Aged Vouvray and wild boar terrine

I sometimes forget to put the wine first in a pairing when it should be the star of the show and this 1995 Close du Bourg Vouvray from Huet was truly spectacular: still fresh as a daisy but subtly, seductively honeyed it was pure pleasure from the first to last sip.

Still you - or at least I - always need something to nibble with a glass and what my friend Fiona conveniently had to hand was a jar of charcutier Stéphane Reynaud’s wild boar terrine which we had on sourdough toast. Surprisingly mild-flavoured with tiny sweet chunks of carrot it was the perfect foil to the delicate wine.

Even better, I imagine would have been something like a chicken liver or duck liver parfait that would have added the creaminess that Vouvray loves but still a memorable experience by any standard.

Incidentally Stephane Reynaud now has a restaurant in Shoreditch, London called TraTra which sounds a good place to go if you're a charcuterie fan.

For other ideas of wines to pour with paté see

10 Good Wine Pairings with Paté

Fillet of beef with 2009 Pio Cesare Barolo

Beef and red wine is a blindingly obvious match but it gets more interesting once you think about the cut and the way that it's cooked.

Last week my fellow judges on the 2016 Louis Roederer awards and I had a slap-up lunch at Chez Bruce following a lengthy but unusually amicable judging session. I say unusually as these discussions can sometimes get testy when people disagree about who should be on the shortlist but while vigorous views were expressed we didn’t (fortunately) fall out over them. (You can find the shortlist here)

The main course was a beautifully cooked rare fillet of beef with Lyonnaise fondant potato, carrots, girolles, and what were described as ‘thyme meat juices’ - basically a very light jus. From past experience of matching fillet with lighter reds like pinot noir I was expecting it to work with the 2009 Pio Cesare Barolo with which it had been paired and it totally did showing off the gorgeous fruit and silky texture of the wine to perfection.

I know many Barolo fans like to keep their wines longer than this - and it obviously would age - but it struck me as a lovely moment to drink it, particularly in high summer when you want fruit flavours rather than autumnal notes to the fore.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes we did have a glass (or two) of champagne to start with. 1997 Cristal in magnum which was both voluptuous and still astonishingly fresh. And some very delicious warm, crumbly cheese sablés to nibble with it. I'd happily wade through several thousand words for that. Come to think of it, we did . . .

For more wine and steak pairing tips see 5 things you need to know about matching steak with wine

And for more food matches with Barolo The best food pairings with Barolo and Barbaresco.

Veal ravioli with barolo

This wasn’t the most innovative wine pairing I came across in the last 7 days but it was such a classic I couldn’t fail to make it my match of the week.

It was at TV chef Giorgio Locatelli’s Locanda Locatelli which has recently reopened after four months' refurbishment following an explosion in the basement of the Churchill hotel in which it’s located. Pasta has always been one of Giorgio’s strong suits so I’d already picked a plate of home-made ravioli with braised veal, butter and sage as a main.

The sommelier suggested a glass of barolo (the 2010 Barolo Monforte D`Alba from Azienda Agricola Giacomo Fenocchio) to drink with it which it seemed rude to resist. It was, of course, quite perfect with the ravioli though at £17.50 a glass perhaps just a leetle bit more than I should prudently have been spending.

Not all the wines are that pricey. The glass I kicked off with - a fragrant white from the Societa` Agricola Cooperativa Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre (a blend of bosco, albarola and vermentino) was a more affordable £10 and spot on with my delicious antipasto of marinated anchovies, smoked potatoes, radicchio and salsa verde.

It’s good to see Locanda Locatelli back.

Robiola, chestnut honey and sweet vermouth

Vermouth probably isn't the first thing you would think of pairing with cheese but this combination I enjoyed at our local wine bistro Flinty Red in Bristol the other night was just dazzling.

The cheese, a Robiola della Valle Belbo had just been brought back from Piedmont by the chef Matt Williamson along with some chestnut honey that our waiter said had a slightly bitter edge.

We thought it might overwhelm the dessert wines on their list so went for a Moscato-based vermouth, Bonme from a Barolo and Barbaresco producer called Poderi Colla.

In fact the honey was milder than we thought and the cheese quite delicately fresh and moussey but they still worked perfectly with the fragrant, slightly herbal vermouth.

You can read more about riobiolo on Wikipedia and the Bonme on the Poderi Colla website here. Interestingly they recommend it with strong, piquant cheeses, such as natural gorgonzola, or herb- and spice-flavoured cheeses.

If you enjoy vermouth you might also be interested to read my recent Guardian feature here.