According to this study reported in the Economist, the reason why red wine generally doesn't pair well with seafood is because of the iron content in many reds which accentuates an unpleasant 'fishy' smell. Link
The study doesn't exactly explain why iron (and no other minerals) create this effect except to say that...
quote:
They found that as well as smelling unpleasantly fishy, the solutions formed by high-iron wines contained several volatile compounds previously known to create foul flavours reminiscent of fish, fat, oils and even mushrooms in wines they are part of, and also the phenomenon of “greenness”. Ironically, these compounds are formed by the reaction of iron with the unsaturated fatty acids that make seafood healthier to eat than red meat.
This is a timely post. My parents are hosting a small dinner this Friday and my father is cooking up his special smoked salmon. Before sitting down for dinner they're going to put out some Spanish style tapas (chorizo, garbanzos, olives, manchego, etc).
I told them I would do the wine pairing for them. Their guests aren't exactly connoisseurs and I thought it would be a fun exercise for me.
I was thinking Rioja for the tapas portion, and was going to pick up a sweet wine to pair with the cake at the end of the night. However, the Salmon was where I got a little hesitant. I think I'm going to go with Gewurtz for the Salmon dish, but am wondering if I should make a bottle of Pinot Noir available as well. It seems to me that the flavor profile of Gewurtz would pair very well with the smoke and salmon flavors.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Posts: 288 | Location: Miami | Registered: Mar 30, 2009
I very rarely want to go from red to white, so i would do a choice of Rioja if you want for the red and also a cava of some sort. The sparkling is festive, reasonably priced and goes great with tapas.
As for the salmon, if you are doing gewurtz, I would also do a pinot noir - it is a fairly standard pairing for a reason. It generally works well.
Posts: 636 | Location: South Florida | Registered: Feb 06, 2003
Hmmm, I think that's a very interesting study. I admit that I've never noted this effect myself (maybe it should be called the "Fe'ffect"), but I'm intrigued by the possibilities.
As On The Wine hints at, it begs the question which wines are high in Fe? Short of having a list of said wines, or of having a chemical analysis done, how would we know? Can it be tasted??? (Boy, that's a whole other can of worms, ain't it?)
If I could suggest it, I'd wonder if the "Fe'ffect" is partly genetic, and if it might be particularly prevalent in Japanese populations? I ask because the study was done in Japan, but also because they have a high occurrence of ALDH deficiency, which may--or may not--be related.
And while we're talking about enzymes and genetics, what about a possible link with lactose intolerance, also notably higher in Japanese populations than say, European populations.
Anyway, very interesting, and will certainly have me eating more fish, crustaceans and the like with red wine, for awhile at least...in the name of science!
Posts: 525 | Location: ann arbor, MI | Registered: Mar 18, 2002
It seems hard to imagine this being related to ALDH deficiency since that applies to alcohol in general. Same with lactose intolerance which refers to an inability to metabolise a particular type of carbohydrate. Both effects seem far too general to be tied into a connection to iron.
However, it is a relevant observation that this study was done among a certain genetic population which differs in several respects of metabolism. What complicates any discussion is that there is more than one form of iron found in foods. And the absorption of iron by the body is inhibited by tannin but is enhanced by acid. So where does all that net out?
There are also a couple of methodological points that I don't understand. The authors included both sweet and dry wines in the study, and supposedly these were served in random order. Why wouldn't they segregate these into separate cells? Like Irwin, I can only presume that the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is a reputable journal, but I don't really see how such a mish-mash methodology survived pre-publication review.
And yet, it seems intuitively conceivable that iron may well have a significant impact on our perception of wine flavours.
I very rarely want to go from red to white, so i would do a choice of Rioja if you want for the red and also a cava of some sort. The sparkling is festive, reasonably priced and goes great with tapas.
As for the salmon, if you are doing gewurtz, I would also do a pinot noir - it is a fairly standard pairing for a reason. It generally works well.
MLV, as you know...my answer for anything these days is Pinot Noir. Tapas, Salmon....anything....except for grilled Strip and Ribeye or Grilled Lamp Chops.
For me, if I want to go with a red, in most cases I reach for a Pinot. And with Salmon, it's almost always a Pinot. That's usually a very good match, at least for us.
Posts: 60 | Location: Palmetto Bay, FL | Registered: Oct 10, 2007
