Pairing Wine With Extreme Cuisine: Taste and Sip Sensations Texas-Style

Working with Chef Tim Love of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth, Wine Spectator Video has uploaded a clip to their YouTube channel that speaks to pairing your wine with extreme foods – Texas style. The tips are quite interesting in this (close to) three-minute clip. If you’re looking beyond white wine with white meat, red wine with red, then this is where the whining stops and the pairing begins!

Lonesome Dove Western Bistro is known for serving up what’s considered “extreme meat-lovers’ fare.” This includes kangaroo, wild boar, and rattlesnake, among others. Chef Love said he wanted to serve food which was a little bit different; things that he grew up with and things that he knew. With a ranch property in Texas and the ability to hunt (Love is an avid hunter as well as an accomplished chef), Love’s pairing strategy for wines entails flavor, acidity, and richness.

For each food item Chef Love discusses with the Wine Spectator host, he identifies the flavor of the dish and why it pairs so well with the wine that he’s recommending. These include Kangaroo Carpaccio Nachos, Wild Boar Ribs, and Rabbit-Rattlesnake Sausage. Wine pairings don’t always have to follow strict rules, and you know that Texans love to eat unique regional cuisine that, often times, isn’t found elsewhere (or at least not done right, in our mind). Although the wines Chef Love identified weren’t specifically from Texas, the types and varietals you can find here in the Lone Star State can easily pair nicely with the dishes you prepare here. If you follow his strategy and have a great eye and taste for Texas food, you too can become a wine pairing whiz!