Wine wine with appetizer

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4. Light Foods with Light Wines
Pair light foods with light wines and heavy foods with heavy wines. For example, tomato salad and Pinot Grigio, or Brie baked in puff pastry and Chardonnay. If you pair a light food with a heavy wine, or vice versa, things won't necessarily taste bad, they'll just seem out of balance. The heavier or richer component of the pairing will overwhelm the lighter one and sort of wash your experience of it away.

This tip is where you get the classic idea that white wine goes with fish and red wine goes with meat. And while that's a good rule of thumb, it's not always true. Salmon, for example, can pair beautifully with Pinot Noir because salmon is heavy for a fish and Pinot Noir is light for a red wine.


Get a recipe for light Bacon-Wrapped Halibut Bites.