Brennan’s Of Houston Opens World-Class Wine Cellar For To-Go Patrons

Houston, Texas – Since opening in 1967 by the celebrated New Orleans restaurant family, Brennan’s of Houston has evolved into the Bayou City’s premier destination for unforgettable dining experiences, marked by true Southern hospitality, refined Texas-Creole cuisine and a world-class wine list. Now for the first time ever, in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic and subsequent State of Texas waiver permitting bars and restaurants to sell beer, wine and cocktail kits with to-go orders, Brennan’s of Houston is opening its wine cellar to patrons. Through its online wine cellar program, oenophiles are granted access to some special gems off the beaten path that they’d otherwise be hard-pressed to find through the retail market. Here customers can peruse Brennan’s wine portfolio in its near entirety and purchase bottles online at deeply discounted rates.

“When [Governor] Abbott changed the law to allow to-go sales of alcohol, it opened up a whole new revenue stream for us,” explains Brennan’s of Houston wine director, Marcus Gausepohl. This is a first in the history of Brennan’s of Houston, along with any other Texas restaurants for that matter. “There are a lot of good retailers out there, but retail really flourishes when you have a great relationship with someone who knows and trusts you, someone who has guided you on wine selections for years, and who understands your tastes in wine,” says Gausepohl. An added benefit: Unlike wines stored on retail shelves, Brennan’s of Houston stores all wines at 55 degrees, the ultimate storage condition for wine.

At the online shop, customers can discover wine cellar gems via keyword searches or by filtering the cellar’s inventory by wine style, grape, region, vintage or price range. Contactless curbside pickup is available at the restaurant (3300 Smith Street) daily from 3 to 7 p.m. with 24-hour notice and valid ID. All orders will be accompanied by a mandatory $2.50 bag of pralines (the waiver stipulates that alcohol must be sold with food).

In shifting the focus from dine-in to dine-at-home, Gausepohl has also reworked Brennan’s menu to include recommended wine pairings, a move that proved to be a win-win for both the restaurant and its guests. Gausepohl also plans to create wine packages in the very near future, such as a Pinot Noir Lovers Pack, Rosé All Day, Bubbles for the Weekend or a Chardonnay Day Compilation, to provide a fun way for customers to discover new wines.

Throughout the decades, the Brennan’s of Houston wine cellar program has been hard fought. Led by Martin Corsen, the restaurant’s original wine director, Chris Shepherd, and James Koonce, Gausepohl’s predecessor, by 2008 Brennan’s had grown the wine program to more than 20,000 bottles and 1300 labels when a fire caused by Hurricane Ike ravaged the restaurant and destroyed the entire inventory of precious wines. Today, the wine cellar has been rebuilt to even greater numbers, comprised of 25,000 units and more than 2100 selections, with Wine Guy Marcus Gausepohl at the helm since 2016.

The Brennan’s wine program has great depth and breadth across the board, with an emphasis on classical and neo-classical styles and French, domestic and Italian vintners. Those looking for Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne are in good hands with pages of options. For the latter, Gausepohl holds a special place in his heart, as Champagne pairs so beautifully with food; in particular, he’s built out Brennan’s list with a great selection of delicious and interesting grower Champagnes. Rieslings are also well accounted for, as off-dry Rieslings are a great foil to the spice and heat of Creole cuisine.

“Our goal is not to be the biggest wine program but to have a really great, fun world-class list that’s a celebration of a lot of great producers, from a $38 bottle of Riesling up to 1986 Château Latour,” says Gausepohl. “Each has been hand-selected in hope that it will be a worthy companion to your meal. Still need help choosing? Just ask!”

Portfolio inquiries can be directed to Brennan’s of Houston Wine Guy Marcus Gausepohl at marcus@brennanshouston.com.

Brennan’s of Houston is currently serving customers via curbside takeaway and delivery service only, available daily 3 to 7 p.m. For more details, visit brennanshouston.com and follow the restaurant at @brennanshouston on InstagramTwitter and Facebook.