six key food flavours

Salty

Inherentley salty food like anchovies,oysters and other shellfish goes best with crisp,dry white wines. Neutral whites also go well with salt beef and salt cod. Adding salt to food is a useful trick to use, to make oaky reds seem less tannic.

Sour/sharp

Foods that are dominated by the taste of lemon, lime or vinegar can be quite difficult to match with wine. A wine with a good level of acidity of its own Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling tends to work best.  Squeezing lemon juice onto a dish can also work, full bodied whites or reds taste less okay.

Savoury

The Kind of flavour you find in mushrooms, soy, smoked meats like bacon, aged parmesan, concentrated meat reductions - referred to by the Japanese as "umami" - is the best kind of match for medium - to full bodied reds.  Its a much less good with whites.

Spicey

Food spiced by chillies or peppercorns reduces the sweetness of any wine that accompanies it, so it can make dry reds.  It also accentuates obvious oak flavours. The best wines to pair with spicey food are unoaked or lightly oaked ones, with plenty of ripe, juicey fruit.

Smokey

Smoked foods need a wine with a strong enough personality to cope with their powerful flavours.  Dry reislings are good for example, with smoked fish and meats, especially pork. With smokey barbaque sauces its best to choose a powerful red wine such as a Shiraz.

Sweet

Sweetness in a dish makes any wine seem drier.  Sweet wines should always be sweeter than the dessert they accompany or they'll taste thin and sour.  With savoury dishes that contain fruity or sweet elements such as honey, or a cranberry or lingonberry sauce, that isn't always possible but at least make sure your wine is one that has some good lush fruit of its own.