One of downtown Lexington’s newest businesses sets likely opening date. Here’s what it’ll offer

An anticipated addition to Lexington’s Main Street has set a tentative opening date.

Moltó Vino, a private wine club that opened its first location in Forest Acres in 2021, is set to start welcoming members at its new spot at 102 West Main St. on April 1.

The debut should kick off a year of openings on the property at the corner of West Main Street and North Church Street, across from the town’s Icehouse Amphitheater. The other three buildings on that parcel, once slated to be occupied in total by the ultimately scuttled Navy Yard on Main beer garden, are set to be occupied by a new Midlands location of Southwest-meets-Japanese chain TakoSushi (expected to open in the second quarter of 2024) and a recently announced outpost of the franchise brewpub Voodoo Brewing Company (announced last month and expected to open later in 2024).

Moltó Vino’s concept is unique among Midlands watering holes, as it allows its members private 24-hour access to come in and pour their own wine. Owner Tony Carbone told The State this dynamic makes the Lexington location’s proximity to the coming Voodoo and TakoSushi and other nearby dining and drinking options — such as Barrio Tacos + Tequila + Whiskey (which opened last year across the street) and O’Hara’s Public House (situated just up East Main Street) — especially appealing.

“Our wine club is predominantly women. Men come in. We have beer and we have a golf simulator at our Forest Acres location, we got TVs and they’ll use it, but it’s predominantly women,” he said. “So to have a beer garden next door where the guys can kind of go to the beer garden and the women can hang out, and you can still go out as a couple, you know, kind of split up a little bit and then meet up at either the beer garden at Voodoo or at Moltó Vino, that’s pretty exciting to me.”

Carbone added that while the club won’t serve food, it will, like the Forest Acres location, allow members to bring in their own, which makes having restaurants close by even more beneficial.

He explained that since the Lexington club will only be open to members, instead of a grand opening, they’ll just reach out to members when access to the new location is available.

Unlike the Forest Acres bar, where memberships are maxed out and there is a waiting list, the Lexington spot hasn’t reached its limit, with Carbone adding that they are currently making their way through previously submitted applications. All members will have access to both bars for $49 a month, a rate that isn’t going up with the addition of a second location.

The contact info for those looking to inquire about Lexington memberships is available at molto-vino.com.

Though there won’t be a grand opening, the owner said there are plans to host events at the new space in the near future, mentioning possibilities such as a mini rosé fest and bringing local culinary enterprise Dorsia Pasta Co. out to do a big pasta cheese wheel.

“The whole idea is that our customers, our members do everything,” Carbone said. “We only have two employees, me and one other girl, and our members let themselves in. They pour their own wine, they put their glasses away. And you won’t see anybody at night. We just come in during the day and clean the machines, clean the glasses.”