Does the order in which the wines are tasted matter?
Is it a good idea to drink red before white? Yes, in some cases. At the table, the crescendo of tasting can stray from the beaten path more easily than you might think.
If you open a wine instruction book or attend an oenology course, you should be guided like this: at the table, we start by serving sparkling wines, then dry, lively whites, followed by full-bodied, intense whites. Then come the light, fruity reds, followed by the more powerful reds. Sweet wines are reserved for dessert.
But also, more generally: a white wine should be drunk before a red wine, a young wine before an old wine, a cool wine before a room-temperature wine.
What are we to make of these rules? That they serve as guidelines, but that experience (and enthusiasm) often encourage us to take liberties.
For example, it makes sense to suggest a light red wine with a country terrine. The same goes for a white wine with a cheese platter, whatever you may have served beforehand. Not to mention a Crémant at the heart of the meal, with the main course.
Consistency rather than color
The color or type of wine is just as important, if not less so, than its consistency. Is the wine fluid or thick? For example, wines from marl soils will have more volume and width than wines from granite soils, which are more acidic, whether white, red or sparkling.
How strong is the wine, how intense, how long-lasting, how tannic? The most powerful wines can be drunk after the most subtle or fresh ones, to avoid overpowering them.
Dilemmas
Following this principle, sweet, mellow and syrupy wines, full-bodied and smooth, should logically be served at the end of the meal. But what about those who like them as an aperitif? And should we deprive ourselves of this superb match with the blue-veined cheeses they sublimate? Or that spicy Thai dish? Life is made up of exceptions.
Here's another one: aged vintages tend to taper off over time, becoming purer and less full-bodied. To enjoy their delicacy, it's sometimes a good idea to taste them while the palate is still fresh. However, their
however, their potential depth and complexity can make subsequent wines seem bland, and cause diners to miss out on the apotheosis of the meal.
It's a dilemma, or simply a matter of choice. A word of advice: change glasses between each very different wine, drink water to rinse out your mouth and try whatever takes your fancy.
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