Falda Argentine Short Ribs: The Underrated Cut That Defines Argentine Asado Culture
What wine goes with steak? In one line: a dry, full-bodied red with enough tannin to cut through the fat. Reach for Cabernet Sauvignon or Argentine Malbec with richer cuts like ribeye, and a softer red like Merlot or Pinot Noir with leaner cuts like filet mignon. The fattier the steak, the more tannin it can handle – and below I take it cut by cut.
I am not a sommelier. I am a British guy who has lived in Argentina for over 20 years and grills steak on a wood-fired parrilla most weekends. I have poured a lot of bottles next to a lot of cuts, and I have worked out what genuinely makes a steak taste better and what just sits in the glass. So this is not wine theory – it is what I actually put on the table, whether you are grilling a US ribeye or a whole Argentine beef cut over the coals.
For most steaks, pour a dry red with medium-to-high tannin: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah, or a Bordeaux-style blend. These have the structure to stand up to a charred, fatty piece of beef. Keep lighter reds like Pinot Noir for lean cuts, and think about a bold white only for a leaner steak with a creamy sauce.
The reason comes down to one interaction, and once it clicks you can pair any steak without a chart. Tannin – that drying grip in a young red – binds to the protein and fat in beef and goes smooth the moment it meets the meat. A wine that tasted harsh on its own turns soft and fruity against a steak. At the same time the wine’s acidity cuts the fat, the way a squeeze of lemon does, and resets your mouth for the next bite. So the whole job is matching the weight of the wine to the richness of the cut. Get that right and the rest is detail.
Red wine pairs with steak because tannin and fat cancel each other out. The tannins in red bind to the fat and proteins in the beef, which softens the wine’s astringency and makes the steak taste richer at the same time. White wine has very little tannin, so it cannot do this – which is why a big red almost always feels right and a delicate white often gets lost.
There is real science under the folk wisdom. Fat coats the tannins so they stop gripping your palate – an effect research by the American Chemical Society has actually measured. It is why a wine that felt aggressive on the first empty-mouthed sip turns plush once there is beef on your fork, why the fattiest cuts can carry the most powerful wines, and why the leanest cuts get bullied by them.
Both are excellent – the difference is the cut. Cabernet Sauvignon has firmer, more aggressive tannins, so it shines with the fattiest steaks, like a well-marbled ribeye or a New York strip. Malbec has rounder, softer tannins and dark-fruit flavour, which makes it more flexible across cuts and the everyday choice in Argentina.
Here is the part most guides miss, and it matters if your beef is grass-fed. Argentine beef is almost always grass-fed and leaner through the muscle than grain-fed feedlot beef, even when it is well marbled. Leaner meat does not want a wall of hard tannin fighting it – it wants body with friendlier grip. That is Argentine Malbec almost exactly, and it is the real reason Malbec, not Cabernet, is the default at an Argentine table. Cooking a fatty US grain-fed ribeye? Lean Cabernet. Cooking leaner grass-fed beef? Lean Malbec.
How I serve it: pour your red slightly cooler than room temperature. A warm red goes flabby and loses its edge against the fat. Ten minutes in the fridge is enough – I keep my Malbec around 16 to 18°C (61 to 64°F), and store bottles between 12 and 18°C (53 to 64°F).
This is the table I would hand a friend before dinner. US cut first, then the Argentine cut you would order at a parrilla so the two line up, then the wine and the one-line reason.
| Steak cut (US) | Argentine cut | What I pour | Why it works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ribeye | Ojo de bife | Cabernet Sauvignon or bold high-altitude Malbec | Rendered fat softens even a powerful, tannic red |
| NY strip / sirloin | Bife de chorizo | Classic Mendoza Malbec or a Malbec-Cabernet blend | The everyday cut and the everyday wine – they grew up together |
| Filet mignon | Lomo | Merlot or Pinot Noir | Very lean and tender, so a softer, lower-tannin red won’t bury it |
| T-bone / porterhouse | Bife de costilla | Syrah or a structured Malbec | Two muscles and plenty of fat – it can take an aromatic, full red |
| Flank / flap | Vacío | Medium-bodied Malbec or Cabernet Franc | Lean but intense, with a crispy fat cap the acidity cuts |
| Skirt | Entraña | Medium Malbec, Salta high-altitude if you can find it | Lean and beefy – too big a wine would flatten it |
| Short ribs | Tira de asado | Bold, oaked Malbec or Zinfandel | Fat and heavy char need a red with real grip |
| Steak with chimichurri | — | Malbec, Cabernet Franc or Tempranillo | The herb-and-garlic acidity of the sauce bridges to these reds |
Ribeye wants a big, tannic red. It is the fattiest of the common steaks, and that marbling softens even a powerful wine, so this is where Cabernet Sauvignon earns its reputation. A bold high-altitude Malbec does the job just as well. In Argentina a ribeye – ojo de bife – is one of the few cuts where I will happily pick a Cabernet over a Malbec, because there is enough fat to tame those firmer tannins.
If you want one bottle that rarely lets a ribeye down, a high-altitude Malbec from a producer like Catena or Colóme has the dark fruit, the gentle chocolate-and-vanilla note from the oak and the velvety weight to meet all that fat head on. The richer the cut, the more the wine softens against it – that is the whole trick with a ribeye.
Lean cuts want softer wines; medium cuts are Malbec’s home ground. Filet mignon (lomo) is the leanest, most tender cut, with little fat to stand up to an aggressive wine, so a Merlot or Pinot Noir suits it – unless you add a rich peppercorn or blue-cheese sauce, which brings a bolder red back into play.
A New York strip or sirloin is the sweet spot for Malbec. It has more fat than a filet but less than a ribeye, and that middle-ground richness is exactly what a classic Mendoza Malbec or a Malbec-Cabernet blend is built for. This is the everyday steak-and-wine pairing in Argentina – the bife de chorizo and a bottle of Malbec – the one I reach for nine times out of ten. Get the steak cooked to the right doneness first, and the wine has something worth pairing with.
Flank and skirt steak pair best with a medium-bodied Malbec or a Cabernet Franc. These are lean, thin, intensely beefy cuts – vacío and entraña on the parrilla – and they do not need a heavyweight wine. A medium Malbec matches their flavour without flattening it, and the herbal edge of a Cabernet Franc is a lovely match, especially once there is chimichurri on the plate.
When there is a sauce, pair the wine to the sauce as much as the steak. Chimichurri – parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar – has a herbal, acidic punch that needs a red with fruit and acidity to meet it: Malbec, Cabernet Franc or Tempranillo, not a heavy oaky bottle that would clash. A peppercorn sauce loves a peppery Syrah or a plummy Malbec; a creamy or blue-cheese sauce can take a bolder red even on a lean cut. The steak sets the floor, the sauce moves the needle.
Red is the default with steak, and for good reason – its tannins handle the fat in a way white wine cannot. But white is not wrong. A full-bodied, oaked Chardonnay has the body and acidity to work with a leaner steak, particularly in a cream or mushroom sauce. And if you are grilling lighter alongside the beef – pork, chicken, provoleta – an aromatic Argentine white like Torrontés can beat a red outright. For steak itself, though, pick the richest white you can find and keep the cut lean.
You do not need an expensive bottle for a great steak. An everyday Argentine Malbec from Mendoza, around $10 to $20, punches so far above its price against grilled beef that it is one of the genuine bargains in wine – the kind of region where a cheap steak and a cheap bottle can taste like a special occasion. I will be honest with you, because the wine trade will not: for a relaxed dinner the meat, the fire and the company matter more than the label on the bottle.
These are Argentine producers I keep coming back to. They run from everyday to special-occasion, and every one is built for grilled beef. Expect dark fruit – plum, blackberry, cherry – with a touch of chocolate and vanilla from the oak and a velvety, full body.
One of the producers that put Malbec on the world map. The high-altitude Adrianna Vineyard wines are exceptional, and the range runs from everyday to serious. A safe, brilliant default for any steak.
From Salta, home to some of the highest vineyards on earth. Intense, concentrated, high-altitude reds with the shoulder to handle a fatty ribeye. Worth seeking out.
Powerful and elegant, built around pure fruit. Their Finca Altamira shows how high Argentine Malbec can reach – a special-occasion bottle for a special-occasion steak.
If you ever get the chance, taste these where they are made. On a trip up to Cafayate in Salta I spent time at the Domingo Hermanos winery, walking the vineyards under the pre-Andean mountains and seeing how altitude shapes everything that ends up in the glass. You come back understanding why these wines belong next to a fire and a piece of beef – they were built for exactly that.
That is genuinely all there is to it. Match the weight of the wine to the fat of the cut, lean Cabernet for the fatty steaks and a softer red for the lean ones, let the sauce have its say, and when in doubt pour an Argentine Malbec. Get that right and you are already pairing better than most people who do it for a living. See you at the fire.
An everyday Argentine Malbec from Mendoza, around $10 to $20, is one of the best value pairings for steak. It has the dark fruit and soft tannins to handle grilled beef without the price of a premium bottle.
Yes, but choose carefully. A full-bodied, oaked Chardonnay has enough body and acidity to work with a leaner steak, especially in a cream or mushroom sauce. For a fatty cut like ribeye, a tannic red still works better.
A Syrah or a structured Malbec suits a T-bone or porterhouse. The cut has two muscles and plenty of fat, so it can take an aromatic, full-bodied red without being overpowered.
No. Serve your red slightly cooler than room temperature, around 16 to 18°C (61 to 64°F), while the steak should rest warm off the grill. A red served too warm goes flat against the fat.
Malbec, Cabernet Franc or Tempranillo. Chimichurri’s herbal, garlicky, vinegary punch needs a red with fruit and acidity to meet it, rather than a heavy oaky wine that would clash.
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