Cellar Classic History

Welcome to The Houston Cellar Classic! Here's a brief history of our event:

In the fall of 2003, Jerry and Laura Lasco opened The Tasting Room in Uptown Park ("TTR"). A small, European-style wine bar and café, the 1,000 square-foot TTR quickly became a popular destination for Houston's wine and food lovers. In early 2005, the Lascos opened TTR Lounge at Midtown (near downtown Houston) and welcomed Jonathan Horowitz to the company as their business partner. Since that time, the trio has expanded TTR Uptown Park to its current 7,600 square foot size and added a new concept - The Reserve Room - in that space, opened the third TTR location in Houston's River Oaks area, and introduced the highly regarded MAX's Wine Dive restaurant into the Houston Heights.

And here we are!

Along with many wine tastings and dinners, each spring and fall for the past three years we have hosted our "Cellar Classic" at TTR Uptown Park. Participants in this one-day event enjoyed an afternoon-long tasting of 100 wines and samples of delicious food prepared by many of Houston's best chefs. This event has grown each year, and in the fall of 2006, more than 400 wine and food enthusiasts attended.

Over the years, we recognized that within Houston proper, there was no multiple-day event solely dedicated to the appreciation of fine wine and food. Last year, we decided to fill that void and we introduced to Houston the Houston Cellar Classic: A Celebration of Wine and Food.  Last year's event was a smashing success, and we plan on making this year's event even better. This celebration will span an entire week and feature multiple events occurring at all of our Houston locations. Our goal is to create the City of Houston's first nationally-recognized wine and food event, drawing participants from the Houston area, as well as Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and beyond. Beginning Monday, October 13, 2008 and ending Sunday, October 19, 2008, The Houston Cellar Classic will feature a dozen exceptional wine and food events. This schedule includes wine tastings, food and wine pairing dinners, beer tastings, sommelier competitions, and more - not to mention amazing retail prices on TTR's expansive selection of wines from around the world. We believe that, with the support of our title sponsor, Texas Monthly, the Houston Cellar Classic will become one of this country's premier annual wine and food events. We hope you will join us during this exciting week.

Cheers,

Jonathan Horowitz