Why is white wine served with fish?

Hello! Today I want to reveal a secret that you may not know and it is the answer to this question that you may have asked yourself at some point, Why is white wine served with fish?

It is a well-known rule that when pairing, it is recommended to accompany fish with white wine and meat with red wine, but this does not always have to be the case, it depends on how the dish is made and the type of wine used. .

There are red wines that can accompany fish

According to a study that was carried out a few years ago by a group of Japanese scientists in which up to 38 different types of red wines and 26 white wines were tested, all from different countries, crops and years of production with a meal based on fried fish, it was highly demonstrated that, the higher the iron content in the wine, the worse the taste in the mouth when accompanied with fish.

This is because the high iron content accentuates and intensifies the flavor of the fish, which remains on the taste buds, producing a very unpleasant metallic taste, and in general, red wine contains a lot of this substance.

But what does this mean? That if a red wine has low iron content, it can be perfectly accompanied with fish.

You must also take into account the type of fish and the method of preparation, since a fish with a high fat content such as salmon, bonito or tuna can pair very well with a young red wine.

It also depends a lot on the type of wine, by this I mean the variety of grape, the country where this grape has been grown due to its land and the method of making the wine, since the same type of wine has a different flavor. and compounds due to all these factors.

Let’s eliminate, then, that false rule that fish should be accompanied by white wine and meat by red wine, since the latter is not true either.

White meats can be accompanied by white wines

The white meat has a light and mild flavor that makes a red wine with intensity and body, not the most recommended for its accompaniment since it would eliminate a lot of flavor due to the tannins that it acquires in its preparation.

This does not mean that a rosé wine or a young red wine goes very well with a dish made with pork, but perhaps a white wine made with the Riesling variety highlights the flavor better.

In short and to conclude this article that I think, answers the initial question of Why is white wine served with fish? Each person has a taste and as we already proposed to you a long time ago through this article in which I asked you: What wine do you like the most? People’s taste also influences the pairing of food with wine. So don’t pay too much attention to the rules and try different wines, maybe you’ll get some good surprises. All the best!

By Rafael Espejo.