Shiso salsa, chips with splashy sauvignon blanc

On first sip, it is all cool citrus, mostly lemon with a hint of lime and grapefruit zest on the finish.

These qualities continue from the wine's first splash onto the palate through the lengthy finish, which continues to tickle and tease long after you've swallowed the wine.

Although there are suggestions of fruit, especially not-quite-ripe green fruit — think gooseberries, green plums, table grapes and Pippin apple — there is never the slightest suggestion of sweetness, which is one of the characteristics that keeps the wine so very refreshing, like fog in a glass.

The wine will work beautifully with most green vegetables, from green beans to zucchini. It is lovely with sanddabs, flounder and petrale sole and absolutely magnificent with oysters on the half shell.

Mexican-style ceviches also welcome this wine alongside and so do green olives, artichokes and poblanos . It is a good choice with green salads dressed with tangy vinaigrette.

Perhaps surprisingly, this lovely sauvignon blanc also shines with homemade linguine al pesto.

For today's recipe, I've chosen a simple but nontraditional salsa I've made for nearly two decades.

It is essential that you make this salsa with high-acid tomatoes; ripe green tomatoes are best. The match will fall apart with sweet red tomatoes.

You can serve it simply, with chips, though it is even better paired with grilled zucchini, sauteed flounder or sauteed shrimp.

Green Shiso Salsa

Makes about 1½ cups

1 pound ripe green tomatoes, preferably Green Zebra or Evergreen

3 to 4 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and cut into thin rounds

1 serrano, minced

4 garlic cloves, crushed, peeled and minced

— Kosher salt

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar

— Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves

1 tablespoons minced shiso leaf

—Black pepper in a mill

Remove the stem cores of the tomatoes and cut them into small to medium dice (about 1/3-inch). But the diced tomatoes into a medium bowl, add the scallions, serrano and garlic and toss gently but thoroughly. Season with salt.

Add the vinegar, lime juice and olive oil and stir. Fold in the cilantro and shiso and season with several turns of black pepper.

Cover the salsa and let rest for 30 minutes.

Stir the salsa, taste it and correct the seasoning, if needed.

Serve immediately.

Michele Anna Jordan hosts “Mouthful” each Sunday at 7 p.m. on KRCB 90.9 & 91.1 FM. E-mail Jordan at michele@ micheleannajordan.com.