Bitter greens, flavouring profile

Bitter greens, flavouring profile

Bitterness in food adds to bitterness in wine rather than cancelling it, so bitter greens want a wine with acid and little tannin, and what the greens are served with decides how much weight it needs.

The compounds that matter. Radicchio, chicory, endive, puntarelle and dandelion carry bitter compounds such as lactucopicrin and intybin, and brassica greens such as cime di rapa, kale and rocket add a peppery, sulphurous bite. Bitterness stacks with tannin and with the bitter note of new oak, so a firm or oaky wine turns harsh. Salt, fat and a little sweetness all soften bitterness, which is why these greens usually come with anchovy, cheese, orange or cured pork.

What it demands of a wine. High acid to meet the lemon, vinegar or orange in the dressing. Little or no tannin with the greens alone, and no new oak. A bitter almond or citrus pith note of the wine's own helps, since it echoes the leaves rather than fighting them. More weight, and a little tannin, only when the greens sit beside meat.

Seek

With salads of endive, chicory or rocket dressed with citrus, anchovy or fish, Verdejo from Rueda echoes the bitterness with grapefruit, fennel and almond, and Gavi from Piedmont is leaner and more lemony. With cime di rapa and sausage in pasta, or grilled radicchio with pork, Barbera from Piedmont is high in acid and soft in tannin, and a skin contact Pinot Grigio in the ramato style from Friuli brings an orange peel note that meets the bitter leaves. With bitter greens beside steak or lamb, Chianti Classico brings sour cherry and a firm, bitter edge that the fat and salt of the meat soften.

Avoid

Oaked whites and heavily oaked reds, whose wood adds bitterness to bitterness. Young Nebbiolo or Cabernet Sauvignon with the greens alone, whose firm tannin turns harsh. Soft, low acid whites such as Viognier, which the dressing makes taste flat.

Three to reach for. For bitter leaf salads, Verdejo, Rueda, Spain. For bitter greens with pasta, sausage or pork, Barbera, Piedmont, Italy. For bitter greens beside red meat, Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy.