T.J. Martell Hosts 14th Annual Nashville Best Cellars Dinner

Back Row (L to R) Chef Sam Tucker, Chef Bob Waggoner, Sheryl Crow, Gary Allan, Laura Heatherly (CEO, T.J. Martell Foundation), Luke Bryan, Chef Sean Brock
Front Row (L to R) Co-chair Bill Hearn (President, EMI Christian Group), Co-chair Tom Black, Co-chair John Esposito (President & CEO, Warner Music Nashville), Founder Billy Ray Hearn (Founder, EMI Christian Music Group)

Attendees of the 14th Annual Nashville Best Cellars Dinner hosted by the T.J. Martell Foundation celebrated a night of exclusive wine and food pairings Monday night (April 29) that benefited cancer research at the Frances Williams Preston Labs at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Sheryl Crow, Gary Allan and Luke Bryan were a few of the artists to take part in this year’s event.

The event paired “Best Sellers,” popular chart-topping artists including this year’s Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year winners, with “Best Cellars,” some of the top wine collectors in the United States, who shared rare wines from their collections with guests at their tables. Guests also enjoyed a gourmet four-course dinner created by Bob Waggoner, executive chef of Watermark and Sean Brock, executive chef of McCrady’s and Husk in Charleston and Husk in Nashville while featuring the world-class wines from the private collectors.

Since the event’s inaugural dinner, created by Nashville wine enthusiast and music executive Billy Ray Hearn in 1999, the Best Cellars Dinner has raised more than $1.65 million to support the foundation’s mission of funding ground-breaking leukemia, cancer and AIDS research.