Lori Wilkinson and Garret Cameron, co-owners of Manteo’s NouVines. Score one for the wine bar, which is rapidly becoming the must-have accessory for the type of touristy town that already boasts a brewery. Under the Alcoholic Beverage Control system, bar owners must contend with a limited selection of spirits and sometimes wait a long time to get them.
The challenges associated with pouring liquor are compounded in control states, North Carolina among them, where an owner is at the state’s mercy even after obtaining a hard-to-get mixed beverage permit. After all, opening a bottle requires less time and know-how than crafting a bespoke cocktail. Just about the only demographic showing an interest in wine was the over-70 set.īut the gloomiest forecasts failed to account for important regional differences, a few of which made North Carolina fertile ground for wine bars.įrom an owner’s perspective, wine bars make more sense than cocktail bars in an understaffed era. People were increasingly drinking spirits and hard seltzers-if they were drinking at all.
Granted, the writer based his thesis in part on a report from the now-disgraced Silicon Valley Bank, but other analysts reached the same conclusion. In February 2020, weeks before lockdown orders forced hundreds of wine bars out of business, Forbes published a story titled “Why the Wine Bar May Become a Thing of the Past.” According to experts, industry conditions were lousy. “The locals even come out during tourist season.”Ī wine bar boom wasn’t supposed to happen. “We get a ton of local support,” said Lori Wilkinson, co-owner of NouVines with her husband, Garret Cameron. Wesley Chapel, Sylva, Pineville, Nashville, and Corolla are all towns with fewer than 10,000 residents that have gained wine bars in the past two years, reflecting a trend sweeping the South. The humans of North Carolina have grown equally fond of small-town wine bars, opening at a quick clip since the relaxation of pandemic restrictions. Lately, though, Lulu has been spending most nights at NouVines, a wine bar that opened at the foot of Budleigh Street in July 2021.Ĭats are notorious for never explaining themselves, but few would question Lulu’s choice. Hanna Raskin’s monthly column, a partnership with The Food Section, looks at the stories behind what we eat.Īs unofficial mayor of Manteo, the 15-year-old toothless tabby has snoozing privileges at just about every business in town.
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