Vinegar, in general, has distinct acidic characteristics that will affect a recipe; it's often used for this reason. For instance, in marinades, the acid is used to break down muscle fiber and help flavor penetrate. In Cevice, the acid component is used to "cook" the fish.
Additionally, the different types of vinegar have different flavor characteristics. I, personally, don't much like red wine vinegar as I find it kind of bland. I much prefer balsamic or champagne. So the question you really need to ask yourself is, "will the flavor of the red wine over the white wine adversely affect my dish?" You might ask the same question about the garlic.
So subbing one type of vinegar for another is fine if you're looking to replace the role of the acid in a recipe (also why you can sub lemon juice). Whether or not you feel the flavor can be substituted is really just a matter of personal preference. If you don't know ahead of time about the flavor, try it and find out for sure.
To specifically answer the flavor characteristic for your question, I'd say yes. Red wine is OK. As pointed out, swordfish is a hearty fish and should hold up fine. I probably wouldn't sub balsamic, would use champagne as a priority, would think long and hard about apple cider. If it was a lighter fish, I'd be much more wary about red wine.
Risotto generally refers to cooking short (or sometimes medium) grain rice, such as Arborio, in some kind of broth/stock until the base becomes creamy. Anything after that is strictly whatever flavors you prefer. There are classic additions past that - such as white wine, hard cheeses, mushrooms, etc - but the sky is the limit.
If it sounds good to you, take a small bit of the risotto base, mix a little of your desired ingredient in and the sample it. If it tastes good, expand on it! At worst you've messed up a small portion of the dish, at best you look like a culinary genius!
Would white balsamic vinegar taste good? Sound good to me!
Best Answer
Balsamic vinegar is quite sweet, fruity and tangy, and not easily compared to other types of vinegar. The substitutes will work better if you're replacing a relatively little bit, especially in a recipe that uses other strong flavors... but the more important the balsamic flavor is to the end result, the more the substitution will show through. It still might be pretty good, just expect it to be different than the original.
One substitution I found that's a little more specific is one tablespoon red wine vinegar and half a teaspoon sugar, for one tablespoon balsamic, another one is a tablespoon of cider vinegar and half a teaspoon of honey. It could be substituted with sherry vinegar and a little honey (though this recipe was "to taste" instead of specific ratios). Your choice might depend on which vinegar or sweetener you have on hand, which one you like more, or which goes better with the rest of the recipe.
I also saw a substitute with equal parts lemon juice and molasses (or brown rice syrup) with a dash of soy sauce. This is a little more work, but because of that I expect it's a closer match to the flavor profile (or else it wouldn't be worth the extra effort).