Soup, salad, vino

You've seen the same question that I have dozens of times.
Typical question: What wine should I order with my soup and salad?
Typical answer: Don't bother. Order the wine to fit the main entree, as in the meat, you are ordering with that meal.
That answer only takes you so far. What if you just want a soup and a salad for dinner? Which is what happened to me over the weekend.
My wife, my youngest son (the freshman in college, Otto) and I went out to an Indian restaurant that had just opened in my town. I scanned the menu. All of it was interesting, but what I really wanted was a soup: sweet corn soup.
Truth be told, I had no idea what kind of soup that was. Nor did I ask. I ordered an appetizer, this sweet corn soup and then I faked it...ahh...corn...vegtable...ahhh...light...Give me a chardonnay, please.
Well, the soup had a deep beef broth and some good corn. I would have been better off ordering a light but not overbearing red wine, probably a pinot noir.
So, I started thinking about different soups and what goes well with them. (I think we should match the wine with the soup, which really is your main course, instead of with the salad. If you want to just have a salad, choose a medium white wine -- a good pinot grigio will probably do the trick.)
Here are a few soups and recommended matches:
--French onion. Prepared correctly, this is a great soup, full of onions, broth and cheese. Not too spicy, but a hearty soup.
Wine: Try a pinot noir.
--seafood bisque. This is a heavy soup, but full of seafood. Wine: Go with the traditional, a chardonnay.
--clam chowder. My wife makes a great homemmade New England clam chowder, full of potatoes, clam, cream, with a sprinkling of bacon. She uses chardonnay in the cooking process. Wine: A chardonnay, of course. (In general, if you use a certain varietal to prepare the food, drink that varietal with the meal.)
--tomato. Treat this like any other dish heavy with tomato sauce, like a pizza or a bowl of spaghetti. Wine: A nice chianti classico.

As a general guide, think about the elements in the soup. For example, a thick soup with beef and potatoes should be treated like a meal where you have beef and potatoes. Therefore, a good Merlot or zinfandel might be in order.