Salsa and pico de gallo, flavouring profile

Salsa and pico de gallo, flavouring profile

Fresh tomato salsa is raw, sharp and often hot, so it asks for a crisp, light, unoaked wine with high acidity and moderate alcohol.

The compounds that matter. The acidity and savoury depth of raw tomato, which make a soft wine taste flat and turn red wine tannin metallic. Capsaicin from fresh chilli, which alcohol makes hotter and a little sweetness calms. Lime juice and coriander leaf, bright and green, which a citrus and herbal white can mirror, and raw onion, whose sharp bite flattens delicate wines.

What it demands of a wine. Acidity at least as high as the lime and tomato. Low to moderate alcohol and no tannin or new oak. A citrus or green, herbal character to meet coriander and lime, and a touch of residual sugar where the salsa is hot.

Seek. Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, lime and green herb sharp, for a coriander heavy pico de gallo. Albariño from Rías Baixas, Spain, citrus and salty, for salsa with fish tacos or seafood. Riesling Kabinett from the Mosel, Germany, off dry, for a hot salsa, since its sweetness cools the chilli. Pale rosé from Provence, France, dry and light, for a mild salsa with chips.

Avoid

Tannic reds, which raw tomato turns metallic and chilli turns bitter. Oaked and high alcohol wines, which make chilli burn and smother the fresh herbs.

Three to reach for. Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand. Albariño, Rías Baixas, Spain. Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany, off dry.