Courgette, flavouring profile

Courgette, flavouring profile

Courgette is mild and watery, so the danger is never a clash but a wine so loud that the vegetable disappears.

The compounds that matter. Green, grassy notes and a faint bitterness in the skin, which a fresh, green toned white picks up and any tannin sharpens. Very little sugar or fat of its own, so the wine takes its cue from what the courgette is cooked with: charring on a grill, lemon and mint, or feta and ricotta.

What it demands of a wine. Lightness, freshness and a green or citrus register. Modest alcohol, since a big wine buries a plate this gentle. No oak and no tannin. Charred courgette with feta can take a little more texture.

Seek. Welschriesling from Styria, dry, light and green appled. Treixadura from Ribeiro in Galicia, fresh and faintly floral. Pinot Blanc from Alsace, soft, appley and gentle with vegetables. Souvignier Gris from England, dry and quietly fresh. Grillo from Sicily, a touch fuller, for grilled courgette with lemon and feta.

Avoid

Oaked whites and big reds, which flatten a vegetable this delicate. Strongly perfumed whites such as Gewürztraminer or Muscat, which take over the plate. Tannic reds of any size, since the green bitterness makes their grip harsh.

Three to reach for. Dry Welschriesling, Styria, Austria. Treixadura, Ribeiro, Spain. Pinot Blanc, Alsace, France.