Remember, this is an example, not the only way to do it. The progression leads up to a "principal" course which is the focus of the meal.

Obviously, the "principal" wine of the evening should be served with the principal course. What if there was no red meat course? Then, in this example, the white meat course would be the principal course and the principal wine would be designed to go with it.

This has nothing to do with choosing red, rosé, white, or any other style of wine. That decision is based on the richness, texture, intensity and complexity of taste in food compared to sweetness, body, complexity and in-mouth characteristics of the wine.

Don't assume that if it is a white meat course you must serve a white wine or a red meat course a red wine. For example, in Bordeaux, the classic wine to serve with roasted chicken is a young red Bordeaux – a Claret. And, this might not be the principal course of the meal.

If you consider where you want to end up, the principal course, then it gives you a good idea where you need to begin. If you weren't serving any wine, just food, then you would not want the fish course to "overshadow" the white meat course, or the white meat course to overshadow the red meat course.

Therefore, each course, starting with the appetizers should be less rich and intense then the course that follows. This makes sense.

Now lets add wine. Without looking specifically what is being served (the specific fish, white meat, or red meat) you still don't want the wine served with the fish to be more intense and complex than the wine served with the white meat, and so forth. Remember, the wine follows the food so the wine must move from lighter and more delicate to richer and more robust, trying to match the richness and complexity of the food at each course.

Often, lighter and more delicate wines are white. But, I can name you red wines that are just as light in body as white wines. In fact, I have done multi-coursed dinners where each course was served with a white and red wine that still followed the correct service order for wine and food pairing, from appetizer to dessert.

Notice that the salad is between the principal course and the dessert. It serves as an intermezzo, that is, a palate break (and a palate cleaner). In coursed dining no wine is served with the salad course. This gives you the opportunity to consider how wonderful the principal course was and prepare for the dessert.

If you have never tried having the salad after the principal course in a meal try it sometime, you will be surprised how less filling the entire meal seems as well as gives you a great opportunity to talk before dessert.

Dessert and dessert wine is tricky. Dessert wines, which include late harvest and sweet fortified wines, work with a much narrower range of foods than most still wines (like Chardonnay or Cabernet).

There is one overriding principal that must be followed: the wine must be sweeter than the dessert. If not the wine will taste like pickle juice (not a pleasant taste to close out the meal).

Classic European desserts are not very sweet, therefore there are several different dessert wines that will work with a specific dessert. There are some American desserts that won't work with any dessert wine. Key lime pie and pecan pie are good examples of American desserts that are too sweet to go with any dessert wines.

I have said nothing about choosing a specific wine to go with each course. That is not what I wanted to get across in this article. What I wanted to do was show you that the progression of wine matches the progression of food throughout a meal. You might not ever do coursed dining at home for guests, but even if you have appetizers before you sit down to dinner – the wine with the appetizers should be lighter, and less sweet, than the wine with dinner (the principal course). Just like in coursed dining.

One final thought. When you have a dinner party at home would you every send the food out without tasting it in the kitchen beforehand? Not likely.

How often do you open the wine and taste by itself, for correctness, and then with the food before serving it to your guests? At that point in time, unless you have a cellar, there is nothing you could do to get a different wine if it doesn't work with the food – but you might be able to make some last minute seasoning changes in the food to make them work better together.

Think about it.

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