Kate Cunningham
Today Kate Cunningham is opening what she believes to be Nashville’s first by-the-bottle-only wine bar. The on-the-nose name, By the Bottle, is indicative of the approachable, easy-to-understand vibe Cunningham is creating.
You’ll find the new wine bar inside Urban Cowboy Nashville’s Victorian parlor and in its adjacent shaded garden, with additional tables on the covered porch looking out at cactus, sunflowers and the Lockeland Springs neighborhood. There are about 40 seats total, including some communal tables. The bar will feature a rotating selection of natural and sustainable wines priced at $25 or $45, plus a few “baller-level” bottles. Prices are written with color-coded pens on the bottles themselves.
Cunningham, a Nashville native, started her career working at her sister’s Rumours bars [RIP] and also worked at Rolf & Daughters, Woodland Wine Merchant, and other shops and distributors, including Advintage Distributing, who will be supplying the shop. She learned about wine on the job and hopes to impart her wisdom to folks who may be intimidated by wines. Before those jobs, she says, “I only drank Frazia. I want people to come in in their T-shirts and sandals and not care what they look like and not have to make a reservation and just come in, grab a bottle, grab a seat, grab a pizza, and hang out.”
Cunningham was introduced to natural wines while working at Woodland Wine Merchant, and the concept spoke to her. “I really want to only drink sustainably farmed wines," she says. "I feel like wines that have less intervention just show their character. I want to bring wines that aren't just your regular Pinot Noir and aren't your regular Sauvignon Blanc. We'll have a Pinot Noir, but we'll have them coming from organically farmed wineries, hand-farmed, hand-harvested."
Other cities have by-the-bottle bars — New Orleans’ Bacchanal Wine is one popular example — and it's an approach Cunningham thinks has been missing in Nashville. “A bottle of wine, it takes time. You get to sit down and you’re committed to the people who you’re with. It’s like an hourglass, and you have this long [pointing to the bottle] to hang out. And that’s what we're doing. We're taking that time to spend time with each other. We're not just going to throw back a shot and beer. We’re hanging out.”
By the Bottle’s menu is exactly what it says, but you can grab a cocktail from Public House Bar or a pizza from Roberta’s — both on site at Urban Cowboy — and bring them to your table. Pairing events may take place in the future. Cunningham has offered her Wine Dates with Kate the Great on Instagram over the past year. Those are a good library of wine reviews in her casual style.
“I just love wine so much," she says. "And I love being able to work with people in a comfortable setting, making people feel like they can ask questions, and I just want to spread that to everyone that I can,” she says. “I've had so many people feel so disheartened or stupid about buying bottles of wine or ordering wine off menus. Nobody should feel that way. It's just wine and it's meant to be enjoyed by everyone.”
By the Bottle will be open Thursday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. at 1603 Woodland St.
