 Similarly fish was generally light and "white" in color so it was often paired with white wine.This adage has become outdated somewhat due to the variety of wine styles prevalent in modern winemaking where there are now many "heavy" white wines such as "New World" oaky Chardonnay that can have more body than lighter reds such as Pinot noir or Italian Merlots.Another older idea was "to pair strong cheeses with strong wines," for example, asiago, a sharply flavored cheese, with zinfandel, a dark red wine with fruit tones.