It is, once again, the day after the night before and I feel — in the spirit of complete honesty — replete! Yesterday was, of course, The Oxford Times Wine Club Dinner at the Cherwell Boathouse which showcased the wines of South Africa’s Vergelegen. It was, in many ways, our most ambitious dinner because the personality of the wines demanded we think very carefully about the menu.

Five wines were tasted and the Sauvignon Blanc (£9.99) apéritif kicked things off nicely; it has a good mineral style, with the fatness of fruit that you expect from South Africa, with still the lovely refreshing acidity that you expect from Sauvignon.

That was the easy part! We then had to find the best way to showcase four fantastically different, individual wines during the three- course dinner. Never one to shy away from a bit of controversy, I thought it would be fun to have both a white and a red with a single starter dish.

The Flagship White 2007 (£19.99) is a barrel-fermented blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc and its rich, toasty, stone fruit character was in stark contrast to the broodier, smoky, more savoury red that is the Flagship Red 2003 (£27.99).

It seemed positively foolhardy to show them together but the chargrilled quail served with a pear purée and peach compote split the guests pretty much 50:50.

Some loved the peach compote and the lightly-honeyed quail with the white, whilst others were surprised and delighted by how well the pear compote seemed to melt into the tannins of the red wine. It was an interesting start and a good one.

The Vergelegen V 2005 (£57.99) is a very serious bottle of wine indeed. Cabernet Sauvignon dominates a blend that spends 24 months in oak, followed by 18 months ageing in bottle prior to release.

Blackcurrants, spice, leather are just a few adjectives that my fellow dinners offered but it was the chef’s observation about the wine’s gaminess that drove the choice of main course. We settled on a slow-cooked beef stew, topped with rare pigeon breast. It was an incredibly bold dish but all those around me thought that the combination was a successful one due to neither the wine nor the food being dominant.

Nothing about the dinner was easy and it seemed that finding a quality cheese to partner the Shiraz 2005 (£14.99) would be a fairly simple task. In the end, we worked our way through a mammoth selection of cheese in the trial run and not a single one did the job.

It seemed we were once again being forced to think out of the box. And so it was that we ended up with a pressed chocolate cake to partner the slightly chocolate-smooth Syrah. Maybe not conventional but it did work.

It wasn’t what you’d describe as a delicate culinary experience but I very much enjoyed the evening as I think everyone did. It might take me a few days to digest but even now I’m looking forward to the next one!

To find out more about Sarah and to sign up for her wine postcards, please go to www.wine-talk.co.uk