South American beef meets South American bottles
· Albuquerque · Brazilian Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 11, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Fogo de Chão’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Fogo de Chão Albuquerque is exactly what you'd expect from a corporate steakhouse chain — tidy, branded, and built to sell. At 22 labels, it's compact but coherent, leaning hard into South American bottles that mirror the restaurant's gaucho DNA. Nothing here is going to surprise you, but if you came for fire-roasted meat and a cold glass of Malbec, you won't leave empty-handed.
The list is anchored by Chilean and Argentine producers with a branded 'Founders Trilogy' section featuring Fogo's own Jorjão Malbec Reserva, plus a dedicated block of Viña VIK wines that punch considerably above the surrounding offerings. Chile carries most of the weight — Lapostolle, Montes, Casillero del Diablo, and Lapostolle show up across categories — while Argentina brings Alamos, Catena, and Luca for Malbec fans who want to walk a price ladder. Whites and rosés get a small but functional showing via Lapostolle Grand Selection Sauvignon Blanc, Natura Unoaked Chardonnay, Antucura Chérie Pinot Noir Rosé, and Montes Cherub El Arcángel Rosé. The gap here is obvious: no European bottles whatsoever, no domestic options, no Old World depth — this list goes wide on a single continent and stops.
By-the-glass specifics weren't available during our visit, which is a miss for a restaurant where most tables are splitting a churrasco spread and may not want a full bottle. If the pours mirror the bottle list, you're likely looking at the branded Jorjão Malbec, Casillero del Diablo Cabernet, and maybe a Chardonnay — functional but uninspiring. We'd love to see the VIK lineup cracked open by the glass; right now it feels like those bottles are just decorating the list.
Luca Old Vine Malbec — $65
Laura Catena's Luca project sources from old vine parcels in Mendoza and typically retails around $25-30 — so the markup stings a bit, but relative to everything else on this list, it's the bottle doing the most work for the dollar. Rich, textured, built for red meat.
VIK Milla Cala
Most people at Fogo de Chão are reaching for the Malbec and calling it a night, but the VIK lineup represents some of Chile's most serious winemaking out of the Cachapoal Valley. Milla Cala is VIK's entry point and still outclasses almost everything else on the list — it's the most interesting bottle here if you're willing to step outside the Malbec comfort zone.
Casillero del Diablo (Concha y Toro) Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon
Casillero del Diablo is a perfectly fine $12 grocery store Cabernet that no one should be paying restaurant prices for. It's here to anchor the low end of the list and it does that job, but you can do so much better on this same list for not much more money.
Lapostolle Grand Selection Sauvignon Blanc + Brazilian cheese bread (Pão de Queijo)
While everyone's waiting for the first pass of picanha, the bright citrus and herbaceous bite of Lapostolle's Grand Selection Sauvignon Blanc cuts right through the warm, cheesy pull of pão de queijo. It's a small pleasure that sets up the rest of the table nicely before the meat parade begins.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Fogo de Chão Albuquerque won't win any awards for wine creativity, but as a corporate steakhouse list goes, the South American focus is thematically solid and the VIK selections give wine-curious diners something to actually get excited about. Bring a Malbec drinker, skip the Casillero, and consider ordering up into the VIK range if the occasion calls for it.
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