The first and most well known principle, elementary but too simplistic, is to “serve white wines with fish and white meat and red wines with red meat”. It conveys the idea that light dishes or dishes with a delicate flavour, for example grilled fish, poultry and some pasta dishes, normally go well with equally light and light-bodied wines, like white wines. The opposite is also true, since more full-bodied wines go well with heavier dishes.
If the dish is greasy then the wine should have a good acidity. It is the attraction of opposites at work in this case.
If the dish is acidic, for example some salads, shellfish, with corn, tomato or garlic, and some equally acidic fruits, then the appropriate wine should also have a good acidity.
If the dish is salty, like some fish, molluscs and bacalhau (dry salted cod fish), then a sweeter wine should be served, with a good acidity and low alcoholic content, for example some young and smooth reds and some whites which, in the case of bacalhau, can also be aged in wood.
If the dish includes strong sauces, then the sauce should dictate the wine. Smoother white sauces can go well with equally light white wines. Heavier and darker sauces require a red that is just as strong.
Sweet deserts or fruits require wines that are just as sweet.
Light but hot and highly seasoned oriental dishes go well with aromatic white wines, rosés or young reds, which are just as light, less full-bodied and have a lower alcoholic content.
Grilled (rare) red meat dishes go well with red wines with more tannins, which are therefore younger or have spent less time in the barrel.
Red meat or game dishes, roasted and with sauces, require stronger red wines, which are more full-bodied, have good tannins and a greater alcoholic content.
