Best Cellars Dinner Has Raised Over $2 Million To Date

Front row (L-R): Dierks Bentley, John Esposito, Jennifer Pientenpol, Tom Black, Jonathan Cain, Joe Galante, Kellie Pickler, Bill Hearn; Back row (L-R): Charles Kelley, Blake Shelton, Dr. Hal Moses, Laura Heatherly, Chef Ken Frank

Martina McBride, Jonathan Cain, Kellie Pickler, Charles Kelly, Amy Grant, Dierks Bentley, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Phillip Sweet, Blake Shelton, Laura Bell Bundy, Kix Brooks, Joe Don Rooney, Lisa Hartman Black, Clint Black and Big Kenny enjoyed gourmet food and world class wines at the Twelfth Annual Eco-Energy Best Cellars Dinner Monday night (4/25). The event raised more than $170,000 for the T.J. Martell Foundation’s cancer research efforts, bringing the grand total to more than $2 million since the event’s inception in 1999.

Guest Chef Ken Frank, Executive Chef and Owner of La Toque in Napa, California, created a four-course meal that was paired with wine from the personal cellars of top wine collectors from around the United States.

The evening included a live auction with auctioneer Big Kenny and his side kick, Nashville wine collector and business entrepreneur, Tom Black. Among the items up for bid were a celebrity dinner at the home of Big Kenny and his wife Christiev; a trip to Southern California for a food and wine experience; a David Yurman necklace and more.

“The Best Cellars Dinner continues to be a special evening that brings together music, food, wine and great people to raise important research dollars,” said event Co-Chairman Bill Hearn. Proceeds from the evening will go to the T.J. Martell Foundation’s mission of funding cancer research at the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.