How do you like to spend your Sunday afternoons? How about driving down a winding Hill Country road flanked by cedar-post fences and a rolling landscape of live oaks that leads to a ranch-style pavilion along historic Onion Creek where a large open pit is fired up to smoke an array of sizzling beef, pork and antelope? Add to that a wide selection of Texas and South American wines and you’d have a fairly exciting afternoon. For Texas wine and meat lovers, it may sound too good to be true, but I promise it’s not. Mark your calendars for Sunday March, 4 for the second annual Cowboys + Gauchos showdown hosted by the Wine & Food Foundation of Texas.

Building on its successful debut last year, the non-profit food and wine organization will fire up some tasty barbecue and uncork some sensational wines for an afternoon of sipping and savoring at The Salt Lick pavilion in Driftwood. For the showdown, Texas barbecue experts will battle it out with South American-style barbecue with fare provided by The Salt Lick, Judge’s Hill Restaurant & Bar, Café Josie, Zocalo Café, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Live Oak Barbecue, Wild Bubba’s and Mmmpanadas.

Along with tasty Texas and South American barbecue, some of the best players in the Texas wine industry will be pouring some of their top picks up against a selection of Argentine wines. (Texas wineries will include: Alamosa Wine Cellars, Becker Vineyards, Duchman Family Winery, Fall Creek Vineyards, Llano Estacado Winery, McPherson Cellars, Spicewood Vineyards

Though the foundation organizes a number of charitable projects, wine and food classes, exclusive tastings and special events throughout the year, this one in particular is the only event where Texas wines get a front-and-center display.

“Well, we are The Wine and Food Foundation of Texas, and while we do not exist to promote Texas wines and foods, there is no denying it is near and dear to our hearts,” says Marshall Jones, executive director of the foundation. “We really feel Texas is on the verge of breaking through as a globally recognized wine region and we are very excited to have an annual event that lends itself to allowing consumers to see why Texas wines mean so much to all of us.”

Among the twenty-plus Texas wines served at the event, guests can expect to see the crisp and clean Mission San Antonio de Valero Sauvignon Blanc from Fall Creek Vineyards as well as their 2009 Tempranillo from Salt Lick Vineyards, a top pick among Texas wine enthusiasts.

Llano Estacado Winery who will be pouring their popular Texas Cabernet Sauvignon and a new Riesling that the winery has just release using a blend of both Texas and California fruit for a fully aromatic and off-dry white wine.

“It’s really an honor and a privilege to be a part of this event,” says Llano Estacado President Mark Hyman. “It’s a chance for us to have Texans come out and taste the best of what we have to offer among some of the most discerning wine palates in the state.”

The idea for the event came from one of the foundation’s board members, Howard Kells, who read “The Seven Fires” by Francis Mallmann about a classically-trained French chef picking up and moving to South America because he was tired of ‘fancy’ plates and meals and wanted to get back to the basics of roasting meats as the indigenous people had for centuries.

“We quickly all agreed that the similarities between cooking meat in Texas and parts of South America made for a great event concept to pit the two side-by-side,” says Jones.

Perhaps the piece de resistance for the event is a contraption affectionately referred to as “the cow rig,” which is a massive grilling rack custom-built by a local steel worker that is used to cook an entire steer over an open flame. (It’s modeled after the same one used by Mallmann himself on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations.)

“The rig is nothing short of awesome and we are very proud to say that we are the only people we are aware of to successfully build and use this rig other than Mallmann himself,” says Jones who added that instead of a steer, this year they are cooking a whole South Texas Nilgai Antelope from Broken Arrow Ranch.

And what better location than to have it at one of Texas’ legendary open-pit barbecue locales? As Salt Lick owner Scott Roberts puts it, “Fire, smoke and meat are my passion and the holy trinity of Texas cooks. What better place to have an event that celebrates the way cowboys did it and the way the way gauchos did it than in the Texas Hill Country?”

After all, this is the exact spot where Bravo TV’s Top Chef Texas selected to host one of their elimination challenges this season. (And we’re proud to say Texas Chef, Paul Qui and his team nabbed the winning prize.)

Along with authentic Texas and South American food and wine, there will be beer from Austin’s Thirsty Planet Brewery, sweet treats from Delysia Chocolatier, live entertainment and family-friendly activities for cowboys and gauchos of all ages. Tickets are $40 for Foundation members and $50 for the general public. Children 12 and under are free, while those aged 13—20 are $10. Click here for more information and to register for the event.

- Jessica Dupuy