The 200-choice wine list at Fogo de Chao in Downtown Indianapolis appropriately is laden with reds from Chile and Argentina.

After all, general manager Joelcir Antunes said, many of his customers are not only in the mood for the restaurant’s meat-accentuated, South American prix fixe menu but for native wines to match.

But there’s an even more important reason for the emphasis on those choices, Antunes said. Value.

“With South American wines, you can find good wines at really cheap prices,” said the native Brazilian, who worked in the restaurant business six years in his homeland and six more in Chicago before arriving in Indianapolis more than a year ago. “Argentina and Chile are two of the best places in the world to grow grapes.”

Question: With such a lengthy list of choices from all over the world, how does a customer know what to select?

Answer:We let them look at the wine list and ask them if they have any questions. We ask them what kind of wine they usually drink and really like. They can describe the wine . . . like cherry-flavored or wood-flavored, for example . . . then we can offer them a wine they are probably not familiar with that matches their preference. Our staff also works as a team. Some of us might know some wines better than others; if we can’t figure it out, we find someone who can.

Q: Why do you say South American wines are a better value than the traditional European sources such as Italy and France?

A:If you’re getting wines from France or Italy, the wines are expensive if they are good. Their lower-priced wines are not very good. You can still get a good cheap wine from California, however.

Q: What wines do you look for when creating your list?

A:All of the restaurants in the chain (11 in the United States) carry much of the same. We don’t change it very often, but I can change it if I want. We have some wines here they don’t have in Chicago. We also want to be different than what the other restaurants around us are offering.

Q: How do you please everyone?

A:We have a price range from $28 to $900 (a 2000 Chateau Haut Brion Bordeaux). Wine shouldn’t be just for the rich people but all kinds of people. We have some nice wines that are very expensive and some that are not. People like to come here and eat a lunch for $20 and then buy a bottle of wine for $28. But if someone else wants a really good wine, we can offer them something like a 98-point Catena Zapata from Chile for $280 to $300 a bottle.

Q: How important are wine/food pairings?

A:It makes a big difference. Your wine should make the food taste better.

Q: What are your best-sellers?

A:The Catena malbec from Argentina and the (Concha y Toro) Marques de Casa concha from Chile. We have great wines from California and other countries, but the people still prefer to drink the wines from South America.

Q: What do you like?

A:The Catena Alta malbec from Argentina and Sena from Chile. You can drink the malbec with any kind of food. It’s perfect.