Fish and Red Wine Mystery Solved

I have no problem drinking red wine with seafood, especially if it's a light bodied red like pinot but for some people doing so is verboten. Scientist have finally unlocked the mystery about why the two frequently don't go well together.

From The Economist...

That red wine is not to be paired with seafood is nearly a religious dogma among connoisseurs. Their reason is that the combination usually results in a strong and unpleasant fishy aftertaste. The traditional explanation for the bad pairing is based on the presence of tannins—the chemicals that make red wines taste dry and cause the mouth to pucker. Yet, every now and again, a tannin-rich red wine that does go well with seafood turns up. Which wines can manage this pairing, and why, has remained a mystery that even the best-trained sommeliers do not understand.

A series of experiments just published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has, however, provided the answer. What Mr Tamura and his colleagues found was that the wines rated with the strongest fishy aftertastes were those with high levels of iron.