Panzanella

Panzanella

Panzanella is ripe tomato, cucumber, onion and basil tossed with bread soaked in olive oil and red wine vinegar, so it is sharper than most wine. Anything less acidic than the dressing tastes flat and soft beside it, and raw tomato makes red wine tannin taste metallic. A pale, savoury pink or a green, zesty white suits a salad this fresh.

Pairs Perfectly. Pale Tuscan rosato, Italy. Made from Sangiovese, with sour cherry, dried herb and a savoury, almost tomato leaf edge, and the acidity to stand up to vinegar. It comes from the same hills as the salad.

Pairs Well. Dry Welschriesling, Styria, Austria. Green apple and a grassy snap on high acidity, which meets the cucumber and basil.

Pairs Well. Gavi, Piedmont, Italy. Lemon and green apple with a stony bite, crisp enough for a sharp dressing.

Worth Seeking Out

Carricante from Etna, Italy. Flinty and lemon sharp from volcanic slopes, with the acidity for raw tomato and vinegar.

Avoid

Red wine and oaked whites. Raw tomato turns tannin metallic, and oak sits heavily on a fresh salad.

Failing That

A Verdejo, Rueda, Spain.

If All Else Fails

Muscadet sur lie, Loire.

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