Est. 2006 • DFW's Premier Wine Storage

2006

Twenty Years.
Four Locations.
One Standard.

Classic Wine opened in 2006 with a simple premise: serious collectors deserve a serious facility. Not a self-storage unit with a thermostat. A purpose-built, professionally staffed home for the bottles you’ve spent a lifetime building toward.

Nearly two decades later, we've grown to four DFW facilities with nearly 70,000 square feet of climate-controlled space across docks, lockers, walk-in rooms, and member social areas. That original premise hasn't changed. Every person on this team is here because they understand what it means to care about wine the right way.

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2006

Original Southlake location opens with 4K sq ft of space.

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2012

Dallas opens with initial 11K sq ft of space.

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2013

Fort Worth opens with 18K sq ft of space.

2018 Southlake moves to a new building with 16K sq ft

2018 Dallas adds 4K sq ft.

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2020

Frisco opens with 14K sq ft of space, completing Classic's four-corner coverage of DFW.

2022 Dallas expands again, adding 4K sq ft to keep up with growing membership.

2024 Dallas expands once more, adding 3K sq ft.

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2026

Two decades. Thousands of active members. 65K+ sq ft across four DFW facilities.

Built by Collectors

Classic was founded by collectors, expanded by collectors, and still run by the same partners who started it. Every decision gets made by people who know what it feels like to entrust someone else with their wine.

Expertise Matters

Every facility coordinator holds professional wine credentials, not because we require them, but because we hire people who genuinely love what they do. Your collection is in the hands of someone who would manage it the same way if it were theirs.

Two Decades of Trust

Founded in 2006. Thousands of active members. Collections that have been with us through moves, renovations, market cycles, and weather events. Longevity isn’t a marketing claim, it’s the track record.

OPERATIONS LEADERSHIP

Day-to-Day Leadership

Clare Gillette

General Manager

WSET Level III

Clare Gillette joined Classic in 2017 as our Director of Wine Sales to manage and grow the wine merchants operations for all three of our Classic locations. Before moving to Texas, Clare spent a significant time in the wine importing and distribution side of the business working with some of the most sought out, collector-worthy wineries and portfolios from all over the world. It was during college that she caught the wine bug, leading her to graduate with a Viticulture & Enology degree and to pursue Sommelier studies.

From Willamette to Burgundy, the Rhone Valley to Napa, or Piedmont to Champagne, Clare has travelled to meet winemakers and visit iconic vineyards as a forever student of the vine. Her expertise and relationships in the wine industry have been integral in elevating our Classic wine community and providing a higher level of value and service to you as our client.

Chester Cox

Director, wine sales

WSET Level III

Chester brings over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Chester has worked in Fort Worth since 2003 where he spent 11 years as a sommelier at Del Frisco’s. That experience and level of customer service led Chester to spend the next handful of years creating experiences and finding hard-to-get wines for clients at Kent & Co. Wines and Ellerbe Fine Foods. During this time he also started a cellar management business that allowed him to organize, manage and stock cellars from 200 to 90,000 bottles.

As his consecutive, five-time award of "Fort Worth’s Best Wine Expert" by Fort Worth Magazine can attest to, Chester's level of expertise combined with years of concierge style customer service will help elevate your experience as a client with us.

Lisa Nelson

Accounting/OPerations

ON THE GROUND

Your On-site Experts

Nathan Crumpton

Dallas Facility Manager

WSET Level III

Nathan’s zeal for wine has driven him to further his understanding and knowledge for the last 25 years and hold the prestigious accreditations of a WSET Level 3 Advanced diploma as well as his Level 2 from the Court of Master Sommeliers. He oversaw two major award-winning wine lists: one from Pappas Bros Steakhouse for over ten years, and the other as the wine director for The Capital Grille in Dallas. His vast knowledge and passion is evident when recommending wines for simply drinking alone or pairings for special dinners or events.

Michael Cash

Fort Worth Facility manager

WSET Level III

My passion for wine has driven 25 years of study and hands-on experience, including a WSET Level 3 Advanced Diploma and a Court of Master Sommeliers Level 2 certification. Before joining Classic in 2018, I managed two of the region’s most respected wine programs: over a decade at Pappas Bros Steakhouse and a tenure as Wine Director for The Capital Grille in Dallas. Whether you’re choosing a bottle for a quiet evening or building a pairing for an important dinner, I love finding the right wine for the moment.

Chase Hayes

Southlake Facility manager

WSET Level III

I came to Classic in 2023 from a logistics background, and I now manage our flagship Southlake location, which serves as the operational hub for the company’s pallet movement, private collection relocations, and white-glove delivery coordination. I bring operational rigor to every collection that moves through our system, whether that’s a single case heading between locations or an entire cellar relocating across Texas. I’m currently building on my WSET Level 1 certification with continued wine study to deepen what I bring to members.

Alex Martins

Frisco Facility manager

WSET Level III

As the saying goes, I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could. I’m a native of Brazil who’s called Frisco home since graduating from the University of Alabama (Roll Tide). Over the years I’ve worked across the North Texas wine industry at distributors including Glazer’s, Pioneer, and Mexcor before moving into the wine storage and collection management side of the business. I bring a distributor’s understanding of pricing, allocations, and producer relationships to every conversation with members, and I’m always looking forward to sharing a glass.

WHERE IT STARTED

Two Decades, One Partnership

Mark Nelson

founder, owner

I came to the wine storage business by way of a systems background and a move from Iowa to Texas with my family. After discovering the world of serious wine collecting, I became a customer of one of the established storage providers in the area. Along the way, I kept noticing things I believed could be done differently: more attention to the member experience, more convenient access, and a higher level of service overall. My thinking was simple: if someone is trusting you with their collection, the experience should reflect that trust. In 2006, I opened Classic Wine in Southlake with that philosophy in mind. Nearly two decades and four facilities later, we’re still focused on delivering the kind of wine storage experience I would want as a collector myself.

2006