I 'd never met Raymond Blanc before, but I didn't doubt the culinary commitment and drive of a man who has retained two Michelin stars for his restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, at Great Milton, for a remarkable 21 years.

A great restaurant is more than just the food though, and I wanted to talk to Monsieur Blanc about the role of the wine list, which, at Le Manoir extends to more than 1,000 offerings from all over the world.

It takes about five seconds to realise that his passion extends well-beyond food alone.

"The wine list is as important as the garden, which is as important as the hotel, as the service, the food . . . we have to give equal value to all these things," he said.

This is the opener from someone who barely pauses for breath in the next 60 minutes.

Isn't such a big wine list daunting for customers?

"It is a big list because it's a big world. If I was totally French then the list would be shorter as there would be only French wines,"he said.

However, he pointed out that there is a shift in emphasis, away from the New World style, and there is palpable frustration at the high alcohol, soft fruit, no tannin wines' that he feels have invaded the UK. He firmly believes that wines of this type "completely kill the food that they were meant to celebrate".

As a result, has already dropped some 80 bins from the list - and there are plans to chop more in time.

M Blanc (pictured) is clear that in the last 300 to 400 years French (and other old-world) wines have demonstrated their ability to deliver the most interesting food and wine pairings.

"The wines in France are made around the food - wine is rarely drunk on its own as it is here", he said, and acknowledges that a change in the way we drink represents something of a cultural shift, but he assures me that he is a patient man.

M Blanc has plans to move away from the la carte and to focus instead on two "wonderful menus" which will be full of challenging textures with the opportunity to partner every course with a wine that truly celebrates all the flavours. There are to be more wines offered by the glass and M Blanc hopes to include some of the world's greatest wines, like First Growth Bordeaux.

All this, he hopes, will make le Manoir's wine list more accessible. For, let's not beat about the bush here, the wine list is still a frighteningly large tome when it appears. I can't help but feel that rather than encouraging people to try something new, it rather sends you back to the familiar, such is the relief when your eyes finally settle on a familiar name such as Chablis'. M Blanc is adamant that the Le Manoir experience should be a "pleasure" and that it is not his role to "educate" those that come to eat here. "People must enjoy it, they mustn't be stressed . . . have red wine with fish and experiment all the time," he said.

A very relaxed and well-informed team of sommeliers are on-hand to help you experiment' at Le Manoir and in my view you'll have a much better experience if you take their advice when it comes to making your choice of wine. I was extremely happy to put their skills to the test and, despite a slightly slippery start, was impressed. To begin with, I was served a glass of Alsace Riesling Cuve Frdric Emile' 2003 from F E Trimbach alongside a risotto of spring garden vegetables and grilled Sicilian tomatoes. Whilst the freshness of the riesling was ideal with the creamy Arborio rice and most of the vegetables, the benchmark acidity met its match with the tart Sicilian tomatoes, and didn't quite work.

Sea bream with squid and salted cod was served with a 2004 Condrieu Les Grands Chailles' from Domaine du Monteillet, and what a triumph it was. The fat, fleshy condrieu - made from the viognier grape - was perfect with such a salty dish. Perfect too to have only one glass, as really that is often all you want of such an opulent white.

The meat dish was corn-fed squab (young pigeon) with cocoa beans and Madeira. The wine picked out was a Faugres 2003 from Domaine Saint Antonin. It was soft enough not to overpower the delicate meat of the squab, but had a sufficiently earthy and herbal quality to enhance the flavours in the dish.

I would be surprised if any one of those three wines would have been on many shortlists to order as a bottle to accompany the entire meal. However, having the option to sample them by the glass and with a dish that allowed them to show at their best was a real pleasure.

If you are sufficiently inspired to learn more about wine and its relationship with food, then Le Manoir's first ever Food and Wine course on October 30 could be for you.

Although M Blanc was still finalising the details, the course sounded like enormous fun. Plenty of tasting with an introduction to some of the world's classic grape varieties; lots of learning about the qualities that different wines can bring to the food that you cook and the food you eat. The course costs £650 per person, which includes the one day course, lunch, a five-course dinner and an overnight stay.