Washington, Oct 22 (IANS) The presence of iron in red wine creates a fishy aftertaste when it is consumed with fish, says a new study.
Takayuki Tamura, professor at the University of California-Davis (UC-D), and colleagues note that wine connoisseurs established the rule of thumb based on how flavours clash between red wine and fish.

There are exceptions to the rule as some red wines actually go well with seafood, the researchers said.

Until now, nobody could consistently predict which wines might trigger a fishy aftertaste because of the lack of knowledge about its cause.

The scientists asked wine tasters to sample 38 red wines and 26 white wines while dining on scallops. Some of the wines contained small amounts of iron, which varied by country of origin, variety, and vintage.

They found that wines with high amounts of iron had a more intensely fishy aftertaste. This fishy taste diminished though when the researchers added a substance that binds up iron.

The findings indicate that iron is the key factor in the fishy aftertaste of wine-seafood pairings, the researchers say, suggesting that low-iron red wines might be a good match with seafood.

The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.