Just as we use salt to enhance the flavor of our food (after all even sweet recipes call for a pinch of salt) the same goes for a glass of red wine. Yes you read that right. Since red wine is made from fermented grapes it already has some natural acidity and sweetness but it often lacks a solid savory note to balance out the drink. That’s where salt comes in.
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Every Wine Glass Explained by a Sommelier | World of Wine | Enjoy Your Meal
This simple spice blend awakens taste receptors in our mouths that otherwise lie dormant. So adding salt to our food and drinks really does enhance our overall taste experience with deeper flavor notes across the bitter to sweet spectrum. When it comes to wine the addition further enhances the sweet notes of the drink while reducing our perception of acidity which enhances the overall taste. This is why wines are often paired with salty or savory foods.
So adding a pinch of salt to red wine really does balance out the flavor but this realization is not new. It’s exactly why the ancient Romans made wine with salt water taken straight from the sea.
While the idea of adding salt to any drink (other than a margarita of course) may seem strange at first this simple habit actually has a lot of benefits. What’s more the idea is hardly revolutionary since it’s been around since ancient times. In ancient Rome seawater was a common ingredient in winemaking since it added an unexpected salty component that as we’ve described enhanced the overall flavor of the drink. (It also extended the drink’s shelf life since salt is a well-known preservative.) This seawater was sourced far from the coast where sea salt was of higher quality.
