The perfect succession of wines in a meal? Here are some rules!

Wine and food: sometimes we are sure that the real alchemy isn’t the one trying to transform lead into gold, but the one attempting to find the right wine for the right plate, and this all in the very right moment.

The importance of the proper (natural) wine

All this matter of right match/right times applies even more to natural wines, where the taste is often unique, and it would be a sin not to find the perfect match. We wrote already about this topic in our “Basic guide to matching wines and food“; however, the pairing isn’t just between tastes, but it’s also a thing of ideal timing: for a perfect meal, it is as much valuable, in fact, to find the right succession of the wines as well.

We have seen that for the perfect match there are a series of rules and methods to follow: they change with time and the different fashions of the centuries; for example, once the “laws” for matching wines were following the rule of similarity, so a delicate plate was going with a delicate wine and so on. Today the things changed, and the most well known and essential group of rules in Italy is the Mercadini method, where it is recommended to match food and beverages according to complementary or contrasting olfactory sensations and taste, so to create a harmonic balance between the feelings.

The rules for the succession of the wines through a meal

As for the taste and olfactory sensations, there are some rules to follow also for finding the perfect time for the wine to be served during the meal.

The primary guideline is that the pleasure of the senses has to grow, so you have to make sure that the new wine you serve never disappoints you with the one you just drank.

Then:

• The youngest wines go first, the oldest after: always follow the rule of time.
• The lighter wines also go first and then the robust ones.
• First, you serve the cooler wines, then the room temperature ones.
• You have to plan the white wines to be served before the red wines.
• The dry wines are going first; then you can move to the sweet side.
• The most prestigious wines are going straight after the simplest ones.

Now that these rules are clear, we are sure it will be a bit easier to find the right wines for your perfect dinner and even a more uniquebalance between the food and the beverages.

On the Natural Vine store you will be spoiled for choice in finding the best natural wines to match your meals: take a look at our wine cases collections or just choose the perfect natural wine browsing our selection’s unique characteristics!