What Wine Goes with Empanadas: Pedro's Guide

What wine goes with empanadas?

The short answer: it depends on what is inside. An empanada is a parcel, and the filling is what your wine has to dance with. Beef empanadas want a structured red with enough tannin to cut through the fat. Chicken empanadas, especially ones with curry or olive, want something fresher and a touch more aromatic. Cheese fillings reward bubbles or a softer red. Vegan empanadas, where the filling is earthy and green, love a crisp white or a dry rosé. And spiced Middle Eastern beef, like our open-top Habibi Yalla, sits beautifully with medium-bodied reds that have a savoury edge.

Argentinians, who have been folding empanadas since the Italian and Spanish immigration waves that built their wine industry, will tell you the same thing in fewer words. Malbec with the beef ones. Torrontés with everything else. That is the working rule. The rest of this guide unpacks why, and where it is worth deviating.

If you want the full deep dive on Malbec specifically, our Malbec pairing guide for Sydney covers the grape from the vineyard up. This article is the broader companion piece.

What wine pairs with the Carnivore (beef empanada)?

The Carnivore is our signature beef. Slow-cooked grass-fed brisket, hardboiled egg, onion confit, cumin, paprika, no olives. The texture is rich but never heavy, the spice is warm rather than hot, and the brisket carries enough collagen that the bite has weight. This is the empanada Malbec was built for.

The hero pairing: Malbec from Mendoza. Look for something from the Luján de Cuyo or Uco Valley sub-regions if you can read the back label. Mendoza Malbec gives you dark fruit (plum, blackberry), a violet floral note, and tannins that have been softened by altitude. It does what every great red does with red meat: scrubs the palate clean between bites and leaves you wanting another.

Alternative reds if Malbec is not available:

• Bonarda. Argentina's second most planted red. Softer tannin than Malbec, more red fruit, drinks well slightly chilled. Excellent if your Carnivores are fried in beef tallow at a market pop-up rather than baked at home.
• Cabernet Franc from Mendoza. A growing star. Gives you the structure of Malbec with a more savoury, herbal edge. Pairs especially well if you are eating the Carnivore alongside chimichurri at an asado at home.
• Australian Shiraz, restrained style. A McLaren Vale or Heathcote Shiraz with moderate alcohol works. Avoid jammy 15%+ examples, which will swamp the brisket.

What wine pairs with the Athlete (chicken empanada)?

The Athlete is chicken with curry, green olives, and a lighter dough. It is the empanada we recommend to people who want flavour without fat, and the curry spice and olive brine make it a more aromatic bite than the Carnivore. This is where you put the red wine down and reach for something white.

The hero pairing: Sauvignon Blanc. A New Zealand Marlborough Sauv Blanc or an Adelaide Hills version both work. The grassy, citrus, and gooseberry notes meet the green olive head-on, and the acidity cuts through the curry spice without arguing with it.

The Argentinian option: Torrontés from Salta. Torrontés is grown at altitude in Argentina's north, around Cafayate. It smells like jasmine and ripe pear but drinks dry, which is exactly what curry chicken needs. Argentinians use Torrontés as an aperitif and as their answer to spiced food. Try it.

Other options:

• Dry Riesling, especially Australian Clare Valley or Eden Valley examples.
• Albariño, if you can find one. The salt-and-citrus character is built for olive-flecked food.
• A light rosé, dry, Provence-style.

What wine pairs with the Classic (cheese empanada)?

The Classic is our vegetarian cheese empanada. Mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, oregano, a hint of fresh basil. Stretchy, rich, mild. Cheese on its own is a wine pairing puzzle because lactic fat coats the tongue. The answer is almost always acid or bubbles.

The hero pairing: Argentinian sparkling wine. Argentina makes excellent Champagne-method sparkling, mostly in Mendoza, and it is finally getting international attention. The bubbles cut the cheese, the toasty yeast notes hug the dough, and you feel celebratory by the second glass. If Argentinian sparkling is unavailable, any traditional-method Australian sparkling (Tasmania, Adelaide Hills) does the job.

The red wine option: Bonarda. If you are committed to a red with cheese, Bonarda is your friend. It is light enough to not bully the mozzarella, fruit-forward enough to keep things fun, and works at a slight chill. Pinot Noir from Patagonia is the same idea.

Avoid: Big oaky Chardonnay, which buries the cheese, and tannic young reds, which fight with the dairy.

What wine pairs with the Patagonia (vegan empanada)?

The Patagonia is our 100% plant-based empanada. Mushroom, spinach, kale, garlic confit, wrapped in a green-tinted dough we colour with vegetable juice. It is earthy, savoury, and surprisingly meaty in texture thanks to the mushroom. Vegan food gets dismissed as hard to pair, but in truth it gives you more room than meat does.

The hero pairing: a crisp Argentinian white or a dry rosé. Torrontés works again here. So does a Patagonian Chardonnay if you can find one (cool-climate, lean, mineral, the opposite of the buttery California style). Patagonia (the wine region, in southern Argentina) is the country's emerging cool-climate area, and its whites are built for vegetable-forward food.

The red option: Pinot Noir from Patagonia. Light, savoury, with enough acid to lift mushroom and kale without overwhelming them. A Mornington Peninsula or Yarra Valley Pinot is the local stand-in.

If you want something unexpected: A dry orange wine. The texture and oxidative edge meet the mushroom on its own terms. This is a wine bar move rather than a dinner-party default.

What wine pairs with Habibi Yalla (Middle Eastern beef)?

The Habibi Yalla is our open-top empanada with seven-spice beef, pine nuts, pomegranate molasses, and a yoghurt finish. It is Pedro's nod to Sydney's Lebanese food culture, and the spice profile is warmer and more aromatic than the Carnivore. Standard Malbec works, but you can do better.

The hero pairing: a medium-bodied red with spice in its DNA. Lebanese reds (Bekaa Valley, often Cinsault or Cabernet Sauvignon blends) are the obvious move and they tend to be available in Sydney specialty bottle shops. Argentinian Cabernet Franc is the other great answer: savoury, herbal, structured but not heavy.

Other reds that work:

• A Côtes du Rhône blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre). The garrigue notes pick up the seven-spice beautifully.
• A lighter Tempranillo. Spanish or Australian, both fine.
• A Sicilian Nero d'Avola if you want to lean into the Mediterranean side of the dish.

If you prefer white: A skin-contact (orange) white with some texture, or a dry Riesling with a touch of residual sugar to meet the pomegranate.

Should I always serve Argentinian wine with Argentinian empanadas?

No. We love Argentinian wine and we will always recommend it first, but the rule is the wine should make the bite better, not match the passport. The Argentinian wine industry was built by Italian and Spanish immigrants, which is why the country drinks comfortably across European traditions. An Italian Sangiovese with the Carnivore is a perfectly defensible choice. So is a Spanish Garnacha or a Sicilian red with Habibi Yalla.

Where Argentinian wine has the unfair advantage is that it grew up alongside this food. Malbec drinks at altitude what beef brisket cooks low and slow: both end up rich without being heavy, both built on the same Andean foothills. Torrontés is what Argentinians sip while empanadas come out of the oven. Argentinian sparkling is what they open when the meal is for a wedding, a birthday, or a Sunday that needs upgrading.

If you want to dig deeper into the cultural side, our Argentinian food in Sydney guide and what to eat beyond empanadas piece both touch on where wine fits.

What about beer, cider, or non-alcoholic options?

Wine is the default but not the only answer.

Beer. A Belgian-style witbier or saison works across most flavours. For the Carnivore specifically, a bottle-conditioned Belgian dubbel or a Vienna lager has the caramel notes to meet the brisket. Avoid anything aggressively hoppy, because IPAs will fight the spice in every flavour we make.

Cider. Dry cider is excellent with the Classic and the Patagonia. The apple acid does what a sparkling wine does, for half the price.

Non-alcoholic. Sparkling water with lime and a sprig of mint is more than fine. If you want something with more body, try a cold yerba mate with lemon (Argentinian default) or a chilled hibiscus tea with the Habibi Yalla.

The Argentinian classic. Fernet con Coca is the unofficial national drink. Bitter, herbal, polarising. We recommend it as a digestif after the meal rather than alongside the food.

The quick reference table

If you want to taste across the range and try multiple pairings in one sitting, the Chef's Box gives you all five flavours in one order. It is the easiest way to host an empanada-and-wine night without overcommitting to a single bottle.

Frequently asked questions

What is the single best wine for empanadas if I can only buy one bottle?

Mendoza Malbec. It works with the Carnivore and the Habibi Yalla flat out, holds its own against the Classic, and you can pour it cool with the Athlete and Patagonia if you have to. One bottle, five flavours covered.

Should I serve red wine chilled with empanadas?

Bonarda and lighter Pinot Noirs from Patagonia drink beautifully at around 14C, which is fridge-cool rather than room temperature. Heavier Malbecs are better at 16 to 18C. Pull them out of the fridge twenty minutes before serving in summer.

Is Malbec too heavy with chicken empanadas?

For our Athlete, yes. The curry and green olives need something brighter. Save the Malbec for the Carnivore and the Habibi Yalla.

What wine goes with empanadas at a baby shower or daytime event?

Sparkling. Argentinian Champagne-method sparkling if you can find it, Australian traditional method if not. Bubbles work across every flavour and they feel celebratory without committing to a heavy red at lunchtime.

Can I serve dessert wine with empanadas?

Not as a pairing, but late-harvest Torrontés is excellent alongside Franui (our Argentinian raspberries dipped in chocolate). Save it for the end of the meal.

How many bottles of wine do I need for an empanada dinner party?

The rule of thumb is one bottle per three guests for a sit-down dinner. If you are serving three to four empanadas per person, expect everyone to drink slightly more than that. We recommend a bottle per two guests if the evening is going to last past 9pm.

Do baked empanadas pair differently from fried empanadas?

Slightly. Fried empanadas (we serve them this way in beef tallow at our market pop-ups) have a richer crust, which leans the pairing toward a slightly fuller red or a more textural white. Baked empanadas, which is how our frozen retail packs are designed to be cooked at home, are leaner and pair across a broader range.

What about Argentinian Fernet, do people really drink it with empanadas?

Not with. After. Fernet con Coca is a digestif in Argentina, served at the end of long meals or at 2am after a party. It is not a food pairing, it is a punctuation mark.