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What to drink with a meat pie

Wine and beer for pies, pasties and sausage rolls: matched to the gravy, or chosen to cut through it.

The short answer

Wine: to match the rich filling and crust, a red with some body, such as Grenache, a red blend or Shiraz. To cut through it, a juicy, high-acid red such as Barbera, Lambrusco or Gamay.

Beer: an amber ale's caramel malt meets the golden pastry. A crisp lager cuts the richness.

🤝 Harmonise

Match it: reds with body, and malty ales

Harmonising means choosing a drink with the same weight and character as the food. A pie is rich and savoury, so it wants something with enough body to stand next to it.

Wine

Ripe, juicy fruit with enough body meets the gravy and golden crust. A Shiraz and a pie is an Aussie classic.

Grenache
Red blend
Shiraz
Sangiovese
Carménère

Beer

Biscuity, caramel malt echoes the golden pastry and gravy, while steady carbonation keeps the richness in check.

Little Creatures Rogers · amber ale
White Rabbit Dark Ale · brown ale
Stone & Wood Pacific Ale

⚡ Contrast

Cut through it: juicy reds and crisp lagers

Contrasting means choosing a drink that balances the food rather than mirroring it. Here that means acidity in wine, and bubbles in beer, to cut the fat in the filling and pastry.

Wine

Bright, juicy acidity cuts through the rich filling and pastry, and stands up to tomato sauce.

Barbera
Lambrusco
Gamay
Sangiovese
Dry rosé

Beer

Crisp, lively carbonation cuts through the rich filling and pastry, resetting your palate between bites.

Hawke's Underdog Session Lager
4 Pines Japanese Lager
Pure Blonde Ultra Low Carb Lager

What to avoid

Very tannic reds. Heavy tannin, the kind you find in a young Cabernet Sauvignon, fights the pastry and turns harsh against tomato sauce.
Sweet wine. Moscato is marked down for a savoury pie.
Hop-heavy beer. A very bitter IPA clashes with sweet tomato sauce. Sour and fruit beers are marked down too.

Questions

Does Shiraz go with a meat pie?

Yes. A red with ripe fruit and enough body meets the gravy and crust, and Shiraz is one of Cellar Sage's top picks for matching a pie, alongside Grenache and red blends. Only very heavily tannic reds are marked down, because that much tannin fights the pastry and turns harsh against tomato sauce.

What beer goes with a meat pie?

To match it, an amber or brown ale: caramel malt echoes the golden pastry and gravy. To cut through it, a crisp lager, whose carbonation resets your palate between bites. Very bitter, hop-heavy beers are best avoided, because they clash with sweet tomato sauce.

Can you drink white wine with a meat pie?

Cellar Sage leans red for a meat pie. If you would rather not drink red, a dry rosé makes its top five for cutting through the richness.

Do the same pairings work for pasties and sausage rolls?

Yes. In the app, pies, pasties and sausage rolls are one option, so these suggestions apply to all three.

Get picks for your own palate

Tell Cellar Sage how you like your wine or beer, and it finds bottles and cans you can buy from Australian shops, with prices.

More pairing guides

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These picks come from the Cellar Sage pairing engine, run on 7 October 2026 with every taste dial in the middle. Your own picks change with how you like your wine or beer, your budget, and what Australian shops have in stock.