A Greek Wine Bar Is Opening in Asheville

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  August 13, 2026

Greek wine is one of the least explored categories on American wine lists, and Asheville is about to get a bar built entirely around it. Ontos, a new Greek-inspired wine bar, is opening in the city, and the concept is unusual enough that it stands out even in a town that has spent twenty years building a food and drink reputation.

For anyone in the surrounding counties, this is an easy trip. Asheville sits in Buncombe County where I-26 and I-40 cross, about 30 minutes east of Waynesville and a little over an hour from Franklin by way of US-23 and US-441. Plenty of people out here already treat Asheville as their Friday night town.

What makes Greek wine worth a trip?

Most American drinkers have never had a Greek bottle. Greece grows something close to 200 native grape varieties, and the good ones are nothing like the French and Italian benchmarks people default to.

Assyrtiko is the one to start with. It grows in volcanic soil on Santorini, where growers train the vines into low woven baskets to survive the wind, and it comes out dry and sharp with a faint saline edge. If you like Chablis or a serious Muscadet, you will recognize the shape of it right away.

On the red side, xinomavro from Naoussa is the bottle that surprises people. It is tannic and structured and ages for years, and it gets compared to Barolo because that is the closest reference point most Americans have. Agiorgitiko is the friendlier red, rounder and easier on a Tuesday.

The other draw is price. Greek wine has not caught on the way Italian and Spanish wine has, which means the quality-to-cost ratio is still in the drinker's favor.

Why does Asheville keep attracting concepts like this?

Asheville has roughly 95,000 residents, which on paper should not support a bar dedicated to one country's wine. Tourism is what changes the math. Between Blue Ridge Parkway traffic, the Biltmore, and the steady flow of visitors from Charlotte, Atlanta, and Nashville, the city serves a customer base several times its own size.

That has pushed the market toward specialization. The broad menu that tries to please everybody has been losing ground in Asheville for years to places that do one thing with real conviction. A natural wine shop. A brewery that only makes sour beer. Ontos fits that pattern exactly.

This is a hard business. Commercial rents in the South Slope and downtown have climbed steeply, and the turnover among newer spots is real. The ones that last tend to be the ones with a point of view sharp enough that people drive in for it.

Does a bar like this matter for the surrounding towns?

More than you might think. Asheville's food scene has been spilling outward for a decade now, and the small towns have benefited from it. Waynesville's Main Street, downtown Sylva, and Brevard's restaurant row all picked up momentum partly because chefs and owners priced out of Asheville looked west and found buildings they could afford.

That spillover is one of the quiet reasons people who move to Macon, Jackson, or Haywood County stop feeling like they gave something up. You get the quiet and the mountain views, and a good meal is still a short drive away.

For anyone weighing a move to the mountains, that balance tends to be the deciding factor. The scenery sells itself. What people actually want to know is whether they will be bored.

If a story like this has you picturing what a life out here might look like, Jon Tharp is always glad to talk through what the different mountain towns are really like to live in.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ontos in Asheville?

Ontos is a new Greek-inspired wine bar opening in Asheville, North Carolina. The concept centers on Greek wine and the food culture that goes with it, which puts it in a small category nationally. Very few American cities have a wine bar built specifically around Greek bottles, and Asheville has not had one. Details on the opening date, hours, and full menu are still coming out through local coverage, so anyone planning a first visit should watch the Asheville Citizen Times and the bar's own announcements for confirmed timing before making the drive.

What kind of wine comes from Greece?

Greece grows roughly 200 indigenous grape varieties, almost none of which show up on standard American wine lists. Assyrtiko from Santorini is the best known, a bone-dry white with high acidity and a saline edge that comes from volcanic soil. Xinomavro from Naoussa in the north is the red most often compared to Barolo, tannic and structured and built to age. Agiorgitiko from Nemea is softer and more approachable, and moschofilero is an aromatic white that drinks like a drier version of a floral Alsatian bottle. Prices tend to run well below comparable French and Italian wines.

How far is Asheville from Franklin and Waynesville?

Asheville sits in Buncombe County where I-26 and I-40 meet, and it functions as the hub for most of Western North Carolina. From Waynesville in Haywood County, the drive is about 30 minutes east on I-40. From Sylva it runs roughly 50 minutes, and from Franklin in Macon County it is about an hour and fifteen minutes using US-23 and US-441 to reach I-40. Those distances are the reason so many people living in the smaller mountain towns treat Asheville as their dinner-out destination rather than a separate trip entirely.

Why do so many restaurants and bars open in Asheville?

Asheville built a national reputation as a food and drink city over the last two decades, starting with the craft brewery wave and expanding into independent restaurants, cocktail bars, and specialty concepts. Tourism supports a customer base far larger than the city's roughly 95,000 residents, and the surrounding counties add steady weekend traffic. That combination lets narrow concepts survive that would struggle in a market this size otherwise. The downside is real, though. Commercial rents in the popular districts have climbed sharply, and turnover among newer spots is a regular part of the picture.