It is sound advice for anyone at a wine-tasting never to eat cheese laid on by the organisers. Any old plonk tastes wonderful with cheese, you see. Consider, then, the taste sensations that await anyone lucky enough to be enjoying cheeses and wines that have been especially chosen for their match by acknowledged experts in the field. These were the sensations experienced last week by those of us lucky enough to be at a special tasting dinner at the Bear and Ragged Staff, in Cumnor.

Especially lucky, I might say, in the case of Rosemarie and me who were there as guests of the pub owner Mark Greenwood. Perhaps I should now say hotel owner, for almost the first thing Mark told me of on arrival was of his delight at the imminent opening (the day after this piece appears, in fact) of four guest bedrooms in the Old Cottage wing. A further five follow soon above the main rooms of the ancient pub building where previous landlords have lived.

The evening was a triumph for both the Oxford Cheese Company and the Oxford Wine Company, represented respectively by Harley Pouget and Heather Miller. But another business named after the city, the Oxford Bus Company, proved less of a hit with me. Its No 4 to Cumnor arrived more than half an hour late, by which time we’d got halfway there on another service. This meant I was unable to buy a return ticket.

Fortunately, we had given ourselves plenty of time, so missed none of chef Becky Joy’s superb dinner that preceded the tasting. We started with a charcuterie and mezze sharing board. This featured Milano salami, Serrano ham, feta and juicy plump olives (I passed on the feta in view of what was coming later), balsamic baby onions and assorted pickles.

For my main course, I had quite the most delicious tuna I have ever eaten. It was chargrilled and served in strips slightly pink in the middle, with duck egg and dill hollandaise. There was also braised fennel with orange and a caramelised onion and potato galette.

Rosemarie’s main course was a seared veal rump steak, of wonderful tenderness (as I know because I tried it). There were also fine green beans, fondant potatoes, and a creamy sauce made with Spitfire cheddar.

This led very nicely into the cheese-tasting, in the company of Heather and Harley. The names make them sound like a double act, and that’s indeed what they became — amusing and very well informed — as they led us through their choices.

In my ignorance, I had previously thought the Oxford Cheese Company boasted only two products, Oxford Blue and Oxford Isis, But in fact there are six, all of which were brought along by Harley. Each diner was presenter with his or her own plate of them, which had necessitated a deal of earlier cutting up by our guide.

We started with Oxford Baby Blue, cleverly teamed with a sweetish wine wine (Monbazillac, Chateau Poulvère). While this combination was widely judged a hit there was less uniformity over the College White with red burgundy (Macon Charney, Cuvée a L’Angienne). Rosemarie, for instance, noted: “The cheese isn’t strong enough for the wine.” Another success was Oak Smoked Cheddar with Forge Mill Pinotage “the wine offsets the smokiness beautifully,” I wrote. The Oxford Isis and Beronia Reserva rioja was another stunning match, as was the Marksbury Matured Cheddar with a Chilean rather than the more usual Argentinian malbec, though this was a little too cold.

Finally came Oxford Blue with (what else?) a fine port. This was Taylor’s Tawny. My notes featured only one word: “perfect”.