There were more great tips in the wine notes I found from my class years ago.  These were on Basic Flavors.  This is something I (and could likely do a generic ‘we’) often think about when selecting a wine to pair with food.

• Salty
  • Works well with crisp, dry white wines
  • Trick: adding salt to food reduces the tannic impression of some red wines

• Spicy
  • Reduces the sweetness of wine, making some dry reds taste astringent
  • Works well with ripe fruity wine

• Sour (e.g. lemon, vinegar)
  • Generally very hard to pair with wine
  • Rely on crisp, acidic wines like Sauvignon Blanc

• Savory (e.g. mushroom, soy, umami)
  • Red wine, preferably full bodied
  • Rarely works well with white wine

• Smoky (e.g. smoked meat, smoked fish, even some smoked cheeses)
  • A bit of sweetness will work, like in Sherry of Gewurztraminer
  • With smoked fish or pork, German Riesling
  • With smoked meat, try spicy Zinfandel or (Australian) Shiraz

• Sweet
  • Sweet foods make the wine taste drier than it truly is
  • With desserts, wine should always be sweeter than the food, otherwise the lose their body and often taste sour

And some side scribbles:

White before red
Young before old
Simple before complex
Dry before sweet
Temperature – 20 minute rule – need to remember the exact specs, but I think it’s put a red in the fridge for 20.
Cork does you no good for testing
Crystals on the cork are no problem
Price a bottle of wine between the cost of 1-2 entrees
The wine doesn’t have the match the main ingredient on the plate
Red fish = red wine
Short cooking time = white wine
Soft cheese = white wine
Hard/veined cheese = red wine