Vino & Tap Wine and Beer Bar Set to Open in Downtown Cary

Vino & Tap soft-opened March 26 at 307 South Academy Street in downtown Cary, bringing a wine-and-draft-beer bar concept to the historic Pasmore House roughly four months after Cotton House Craft Brewers shut down and left the building vacant.

The bar, registered as Vino Cary LLC with the NC ABC Commission, is completing final licensing as it moves toward a full spring opening. Its menu centers on champagne cocktails, curated wines by the glass and bottle, and a rotating craft beer draft program. On its website, Vino & Tap describes itself as "a relaxed neighborhood wine bar in the heart of Downtown Cary, created for people who love great wine, great conversation, and a warm, welcoming atmosphere."

Cotton House filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 8, 2025, under Case No. 5:25-bk-01294 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. A Facebook statement from the brewery attributed the financial collapse to a catering expansion through an outside partnership that "took a different direction, and over the past two years, we have faced significant financial strains as a result." Despite initial plans to remain open through the bankruptcy proceedings, Cotton House closed November 17, 2025.

The Pasmore House has a documented history that predates its brewery era by more than a century. Built around 1900 as a boarding house for students of Cary Academy, which was incorporated in 1896 with 23 stockholders under principal E.L. Middleton, the building accommodated students when the school's enrollment reached 248 across five teachers. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits within the Cary Historic District, bounded by South Academy Street, South Harrison Avenue, West Park Street, Dry Avenue, and Faculty Avenue, a collection of approximately 30 historic dwellings dating largely from 1890 to 1945.

Cotton House leaned into the address's eerie past, noting in community posts that paranormal activity within the walls suggested "souls of students that never really left." Vino & Tap now operates in those same rooms with more than 125 years of accumulated history and a National Register designation that few wine bars in the Triangle can claim.

Downtown Cary's wine bar market already includes Your Authentic Champagne Bar, Chatham Street Wine Market, WELD Wine & Beer, and Niche Wine Lounge. The Williams House, another historic Cary home converted into a craft taproom, offers the closest local model for what Vino & Tap is attempting. Vino & Tap's emphasis on champagne cocktails and curated wine marks a deliberate departure from the beer-forward identity that has defined much of downtown Cary's hospitality scene in recent years.

The NC ABC Commission issued temporary permits for on-premises malt beverages, unfortified wine, and fortified wine in mid-March 2026. Formal hours and an event calendar are expected once final inspections are complete.