Vinsobres with wild boar stew and chestnut polenta

You’d expect a Southern Rhône red to go with wild boar but in fact it was the chestnut polenta that made the match with this former Côtes du Rhône ‘cru’ so successful

The dish was cooked as part of a five course tasting menu by Matt Williamson formerly of Flinty Red in Bristol at an inaugural event for wefifo in Bristol. (Wefifo is like a foodie equivalent of Airbnb where hosts cook for paying guests.)

The wines were chosen by local wine importer Nick Brookes of Vine Trail and the dish was paired with a 2012 Vinsobres ‘Emile’ from a biodynamic estate called Domaine de la Pequelette. It was a typically southern Rhone blend of 75% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah and 5% Carignan from low-yielding old vines - full-bodied, deep and savoury.

I think it was the grenache in particular that chimed in with the rich meat and sweet, chestnutty polenta. I’d definitely thinking about pairing grenache with chestnut again.

Wild boar with cherry sauce and Karam Corpus Christi

It’s almost impossible to pick out one pairing from last week’s trip to the Lebanon but if I’m forced to it has to be a dish of wild boar with cherry sauce I ate with Habib Karam the owner of Karam winery (and - extraordinarily - the airline pilot who flew us to Beirut)

Habib is as passionate about his food as he is about his wine (and I imagine every other pursuit he engages in) and had devised an amazing meal which we were supposed to have for lunch and ended up eating about 6pm due to various distractions along the way. Lebanese wine visits tend to drift . . .

The boar, which I could imagine him killing with his bare hands, turned out not to have been dispatched by him but had been marinated for two days in Syrah and cloves then brushed with brown sugar and honey, slow roasted and served with a dark, delicious, sour cherry sauce and a selection of boiled vegetables including baby aubergines. It went extraordinarily well with his 2007 Corpus Christi, a dark, plummy blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Merlot. It was still a little young to drink but the gamey meat and sharp cherries mellowed its tannins and made for a quite stunning match.

Habib makes his wine from high altitude vineyards just outside Jezzine which is to the south of the Bekaa valley so they all had a fresh acidity that made them particularly good partners for food. Other good pairings from the dinner were his Cloud Nine 2009, a crisp blend of Semillon, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat with tabbouleh and Arc-en-Ciel, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah-based ros with lobster freekeh - a fabulous paella type dish made with lobster (flown in from Ghana), tomatoes and a touch of chilli. I found the wine a touch bubblegummy but it was terrific with the food.

Of all the winemakers I met last week he was the most focussed on food pairings. “There’s no point in trying to make wine unless it ends up on a table of food” he said, simply.

At the moment Habib doesn’t have a distributor in the UK but if you’re interested in his wines I’m sure he’d find a way of getting them to you. Flying them himself, if need be.

I visited the Lebanon as a guest of Wines of Lebanon.

Wild boar and Monty's French Red

If you've been following the new alternative lifestyle programme Château Monty on Channel 4 you’ll know that ‘Monty’ is wine writer Monty Waldin who set out to make his own biodynamic wine in the Roussillon down in the far corner of south-west France

I got to taste it last week and was really impressed. It’s a typically gutsy, spicy southern red based on Carignan and Grenache but with quite a raunchy ‘animal’ character (yes, that is a tasting note!) which suits it perfectly to game. Especially the wild boar that frequent the area and I gather cause Monty not a few problems in a future episode so he’d probably like to get his own back on them. Slow roast pork with garlic and fennel seeds or shoulder of lamb with garlic and rosemary would also be good.

It costs a very reasonable £7.99 from Adnams who only have a limited amount to offer so I’d get in quick if you want to try it.

Les-Baux-de-Provence and civet de sanglier (wild boar stew)

I went to a great little bistro the other day in St-Rémy-de-Provence called - appropriately enough - Bistro Découverte. It’s run by a very talented young sommelier I used to know in London called Claude Douard who worked for Marco Pierre White and Joel Rebuchon.

As you’d expect, the wine list is awesome but there are also plenty of good local wines to drink at modest prices, several of which are available by the glass. We particularly enjoyed a soft, plummy La Chapelle de Romanin Les-Baux-de-Provence 2003, the unoaked wine of Château Romanin which was a perfect match with the plat du jour, a robust wild boar stew served with a sauce grand veneur (classic French game sauce). Made from the estate's younger vines, the wine was a typically southern French blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvdre, Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise with some added Cabernet Sauvignon.

The bistro is apparently well patronised by local winemakers - the legendary Eloi Durrbach of Domaine de Trevallon was sitting on the next door table.