The Wine and Empanada Challenge Part II: Going Veggie
By: Jameson Fink
Published: April 25, 2011

Meat-filled empanadas and rich red, Malbec-based wines from Argentina are pretty much a duh food and wine pairing. (Not to disparage my previous efforts on that topic, but it wasn't too big a stretch.) So I buckled down with another round of empanadas from Pampeana and another bottle of wine. (No rest for the weary on the Foodista blog. Fortunately I had a very eager friend/protege come over to assist me with this consumption-based research.)

The wine for this round was the 2007 Diamandes de Uco. Rich and brooding, but with a relatively refreshing finish for such a big red, it's a blend of 70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Diamandes is another Argentinian red that comes from high-altitude vineyards; the more wines I taste from the well-known Mendoza region, the more I am intrigued by wines made from grapes cultivated from the upper reaches. Mendoza reds never lack for richness and power, but when you have vineyards from approximately 3,200 to 4000 feet above sea level (like the Diamandes), cooler nights mitigate detrimental effects that heat can have on grapes. Rather than dominated by ripeness (or over-ripeness) you get a multi-dimensional wine with some finesse and depth.
So the wine was certainly tasty, but how did it stack up with the food? The top meatless empanada was filled with broccoli, onion and mushroom, with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Certainly with red-wine loving mushrooms and rich cheese, the empanada stood up to this hearty red. Next was the roasted corn, with a mix of creamed and kernel corn, fresh tomatoes, green pepper, onion and spices. I thought this was going to be a little unfair to both the Diamandes and the empanada (corn and red wine?!?), but it actually was a decent (but not perfect) match. The creamed corn gave a richness to the filling and the seasoning lifted the flavor profile so it wasn't too, uh, corny.
So what did I learn? If you've got a burly red wine and looking for vegetarian cuisine to match, you can't go wrong with finding a recipe featuring earthy mushrooms and rich cheese. For vegans, I'd ramp up the mushroom intensity by roasting them. And if you can wrap all those ingredients in a savory dough, well then you're aces. Or with a bottle of Diamandes de Uco, more appropriately, you're diamonds.
Full disclosure: The wine was a sample provided free-of-charge.