Times Ten Cellars

Overview
Times Ten Cellars is a full-production winery and wine bar in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. Located in a converted 1940s post office, 'x10' features wines from premier regions in California (under the Times Ten label) as well as wines from its own vineyard in Alpine, Texas (under the Cathedral Mountain Vineyard label). Production in 2008 ranged from 120,000 to 200,000 bottles sold on-premise and in 45 area restaurants.
The winery opened its doors in August 2005 and expanded to two buildings in 2007, the year of its first harvest of grapes from Alpine. In 2008, x10 purchased a former pecan shelling factory in the Cultural District of Fort Worth, Texas, with plans to open a second Times Ten Cellars in late 2009.
History
A series of laws passed in Texas from 2001 to 2005 made conditions favorable to the overly regulated Texas wine industry. As a result, bonded wineries in the state increased from 40 in 2001 to over 100 in 2005. Feeling confident about adequate demand for a similar venture in Dallas, partners Kert Platner, Chris Lawler and Rob Wilson purchased a building that had once been the Lakewood post office, built in 1945, and later a Southwestern Bell regional office, converting it to house the necessary steel tanks and oak barrels (from France and Pennsylvania) for a full-production winemaking facility.
The name "Times Ten" comes from a previous business that owners Kert Platner and Rob Wilson had been involved in. In 1996, when they were employees of Baxter Biotech, Platner and Wilson hit upon an idea to form a company dedicated to the distribution of drugs and clinical services to sufferers of hemophilia. When they secured a $1 million loan the following year to launch Choice Source Therapeutics, they celebrated with a $100 bottle of wine. In April 2002 they sold the company to Nashville, Tennessee-based Caremark Rx Inc. Platner and Wilson celebrated with a bottle of 1988 Chateau Margaux, which cost $1,000. "We realized that that bottle was exactly 10 times the price of the one we bought six years prior," Platner told the Dallas Observer. The phrase captures their good fortune, they say, and the cork from the Margaux is framed at the end of the Times Ten tasting bar.
While the space provided ample room for customers to sit and enjoy wine by the glass, demand grew for Times Ten Cellars as a wine bar and event space. As a result, "Times Ten Too" opened in the adjacent building just 18 months after the first building opened, expanding the business with an added lounge for overflow and private events.
Awards
Times Ten Cellars has received accolades for both its wines and its wine bar space, most notably from the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition and the city guide website Citysearch.
-Best Dallas Wine Bar (Best of Citysearch, 2006)
-Bronze medal, 2006 Rose (DMN Wine Competition, 2007)
-Best Dallas Over-30 Singles Scene (Best of Citysearch, 2007)
-Silver medal, 2005 Cabernet Franc (DMN Wine Competition, 2008)
-Best Dallas Neighborhood Bar (Best of Citysearch, 2008)
-Best Dallas After-Work Bar (Best of Citysearch, 2008)
-Best Dallas Over-30s Singles Scene (Best of Citysearch, 2008)
-Silver medal, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (DMN Wine Competition, 2009)

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu