Romesco, flavouring profile

Romesco, flavouring profile

Romesco is a Catalan sauce of roasted peppers, toasted nuts, garlic, olive oil and sherry vinegar, sweet, smoky and nutty at once, and the wines of its own coast suit it best.

The compounds that matter. The sweetness and smoky, roasted notes of charred peppers and paprika, which suit a wine with ripe fruit and a savoury edge. Toasted almonds and hazelnuts, whose nutty depth a wine with its own nutty or yeasty character meets. Sherry vinegar and raw garlic, which set a floor of acidity and punish a soft wine.

What it demands of a wine. Fresh acidity, a little ripe fruit and a savoury or nutty register. Light to medium body, low tannin and little oak. Where romesco goes on grilled leeks, fish or chicken, white, pink and sparkling wines all work.

Seek. Cava Rosado from Penedès, a darker sparkling pink whose bubbles and red fruit are the Catalan answer to romesco with grilled spring onions. Xarel-lo from Penedès, herbal and firm, for romesco with fish. Garnacha from the Sierra de Gredos, fresh and lightly extracted, for romesco with lamb or grilled meat. Darker rosado from Navarra, full enough for the roasted peppers.

Avoid

Tannic, heavily oaked reds, which the vinegar and garlic turn harsh. Delicate, neutral whites, which the smoky, nutty sauce overwhelms.

Three to reach for. Darker Cava Rosado, Penedès, Spain. Xarel-lo, Penedès, Spain. Garnacha, Sierra de Gredos, Spain.