Harvey Steiman writing for the 'Wine Spectator' in Matching Wine with Foods gave this advice:

A simple way to make successful wine and food pairings is to consider the weight of both wine and food.

• The first rule is to make sure that the food is good and the wine is good
• Do not go for fancy wines – choose a wine that you would want to drink by yourself
• There is common sense with the old rule that white wine goes with fish and red wine goes with meat. This made perfect sense when white wines were mostly light and fruity and red wines were mostly tannic and weighty. Today California Chardonnays are heavier and full bodies than most California Pinot Noirs. Colour coding does not always work.
• Hearty foods needs hearty wines. A dish like braised pork belly, for example or lasagna Bolognese will run roughshod with Pinot Noir or Valpolicella. Better uncork a Malbec, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.
• With lighter food one has more leeway

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/ABCs_of_Food_and_Wine_Pairing