You know far more about pairing food and wine than you probably think. You know, for instance, that a big glass of dense, dark red wine isn’t going to look very refreshing on a 95 degree day. In fact, you’ll probably want to reach for a beer. So on those hot days, think light, crisp whites, like unoaked Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs. No doubt you’ve already chosen light foods.

Same thing goes for wintertime. If you’re starting dinner with a white wine, you might want to look toward richer whites, like toasty oaked Chardonnay or lush Rhones.

An easy way to think about what wines fit the climate is to think of what people drink in like climates. Summertime whites? Think of the Mediterranean. Wintertime reds? Think of northern Italy, and central and northern France. It’s not infallible, but it’s a good trigger when you’re feeling lost.

Guided by Vibe

This is a bit of a no-brainer: Match the wine to the vibe of the occasion. For instance, burgers and Grand Cru Bordeaux can be a wonderful match, especially if the burgers are served on bone china at a clothed table. In the backyard, fancy Bordeaux not only has the possibility of looking pretentious, but the wine will probably be wasted on people since the spread won’t feel like an occasion to pay much attention to what’s in your glass. Bulgarian Merlot might just be a better pick.

Weigh the Choices

You can answer many wine-pairing questions simply by asking yourself how weighty the dish is. Take a nice filet of sole with a butter sauce, for instance. How about a big, juicy Shiraz with that? I didn’t think so. The wine is going to knock that fish right out of the sea, not because it’s a red wine with white fish, but because the wine’s flavors are simply bigger, louder, more aggressive. How about a big, oaky Chardonnay? Better, but that’s still going to clobber the delicate sole. A wine as delicate and plain as the fish itself, like a crisp, unoaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, sounds far better.

There are very few rules in pairing wine and food, but this is one of them: Match the weight of the wine to that of the food. If the wine is too heavy, it will obliterate the dish; too light, and the dish will obliterate it. Give them each a fighting chance to be tasted, and you’re halfway there, or more.

Texture

We tend to think of wines as simply wet, but when you get down to it, some are smooth as silk; others are heavier, more like satin. Some are rough with sandpaper-like tannins; others use bubbles to more genteelly rough up the tongue.

Think of a food’s texture when you’re pairing it with wine, and ask yourself whether you’d like more of the same, or some point-counterpoint. This isn’t the sort of interaction that will ruin a pairing, but it might make it more interesting. For example, with a smooth, rich pate, which would you rather have—a sweet wine as smooth and rich as the spread, or a bubbly that will scrub it off? One isn’t more correct than the other; they’re just different pleasant effects.