Tipping salt into Cabernet Sauvignon improves taste
Before anyone starts sniggering up their sleeves, it’s worth remembering that Myhrvold is more than amply furnished in the brain department.
He has degrees in maths, geophysics and space physics, a Phd. in theoretical and mathematical physics and a master’s in mathematical economics.
All of which qualified him to tip salt into Cabernet Sauvignon during dinner with Californian winemaker Gina Gallo, when she said she tried not to drink the wine when it was too sweet or too fruity.
“I start by adding just a tiny pinch of salt and what it does is balance the flavors. With most wines, they immediately taste smoother,” Myhrvold told Bloomberg.
He added that he believed there were 40 flavor receptors on the tongue, more than the standard five – salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami.
Myhrvold also advocates whizzing up your wine in a food blender rather than decanting, to remove sulphur dioxide.
Subhash Arora, from the Indian Wine Academy, reflected in Myhrvold’s advice in a Saturday blog post: “I would strongly recommend to our readers not to try either the salt trick or the blend-not-decant trick at home, unless you are drinking a cheap red Carlo Rossi from Gallo,” he said.
