By Ebony L. Morman 

Glossy marble floors might be the first thing you notice when you enter Substrate Wine & Vermouth. Then, your eyes might land on any number of things: the quaint bar, a wooden crate full of vinyl records, or a cozy burnt orange couch. 

It’s a hodgepodge of silliness, says owner Matt Green, who you’ll more than likely catch behind the bar pouring. 

“We have these marble floors that look really bougie, and then everything else is just ridiculous,” he says. 

An accumulator of interesting odds and ends, Green “designed” the 1,600-square-foot indoor space using more than a few items he found lying around his home. Other pieces were procured from ordinary places like Facebook Marketplace and Sleepy Poet Antique Mall. He wanted to create a place that didn’t try too hard, one that didn’t scream “look at us, we’re different.”  

“It just feels lived in,” Green says. “It feels homey and intriguing, but comfortable. At the same time, we wanted it to be very overt, letting people know that this is a place where you’re going to interact with humans — whether they’re staff or other patrons. I didn’t want to feel like a big business at all, and I didn’t want to feel like it was designed by anyone.” 

That eclectic vibe permeates the Optimist Park bar and it has played a significant role in keeping people coming back for nearly a year. When Green opened Substrate last spring, his vision was to be a go-to, after-shift spot for hospitality workers. The love the bar received initially from that crowd — industry folks who deserve to go to places they love, too — was flattering, he says. 

“That was a big part of the plan, and hope, as someone who empathized with our bartenders and servers,” he says. “If you can win those people over, I think the rest will come. And we won those people over pretty quickly.”  

Winning them over could have something to do with offering a diverse menu, with drinks priced as low as a couple of dollars. A current crowd favorite is the lambrusco, which Green says is as much for enthusiasts as novice drinkers. One of his picks include the Domaine du Plaisance ‘Ronceray’ Anjou (chenin), which is bright and acidic, and has notes of fresh stone fruits. Another is the Kosovec Skin-Contact Skrlet (from Croatia), which is a delicate, zero-funk orange wine with a clean finish. 

The bar’s known for its non-traditional wine list, and niche wines are what sets Substrate apart. Most of the names on the list are uncommon offerings, so if you’re looking for an oaky chardonnay or chianti, Substrate may not be a stop on your list. Instead, guests are encouraged to be adventurous and these days, people come without an expectation. That’s the way Green — who spent a few years serving and bar backing in Charleston before moving to Charlotte in 2020 — likes it. 

Before opening Substrate, Green spent nearly three years at Rosie’s Coffee & Wine Garden where he eventually became the bar manager. Shortly after leaving Rosie’s, he embarked on a three-month bike trip through Europe where he visited numerous wineries between Barcelona and Albania, spending time in Piedmont, Croatia, and Siliciy. The excursion ended the debate: Was he going to open his own spot and did he even want to double down on wine? 

“That trip was gratifying and inspiring and I was like ‘wine is cool and it’s better than working in an office, so let’s figure this out,’” he says. “But the onus was initially just that this is cool to learn about. Then it kind of became that these producers are being stewards of the land. They’re farming in really interesting ways, offsetting their carbon, and contributing to their community.” 

When it comes to sourcing wine, Green admits he’s selective. Rise Over Run Wine is among 10 distributors he works with and it’s one that he trusts because they offer ethically made wine made by small producers. It’s where Green sources Slovenian and Croatian wines.  

“If you go to other cities, you’ll see that what we’re doing is definitely not the most unparalleled thing,” he says. “There are other wine bars pouring cool stuff and prioritizing small producers and niche grapes. We want to support those growers that maybe have been growing in the same spot for 1000 years, but just doesn’t get exported or doesn’t have an American market.” 

A highlight for Green is watching people connect, which happens more often than not — whether it’s the wine enthusiasts who mix with those who are simply curious on Wednesday nights during the two-hour free wine tasting or the ritualism that’s starting to take shape on Friday nights when funk trio Cosmic Collective fills the place with tunes. There’s also Saturday nights; that’s when a DJ spins vinyl, playing laid back music, like jazz and funk. 

Because Green values community, it’s no surprise that it’s such an important part of Substrate’s identity. Something else he values is liking cool stuff — such as mismatched furniture, vinyl records, and niche wines, to name a few — and not being pretentious about it, he says. That, too, is a part of the bar’s aesthetic. 

“We’ve just been trying to match people’s energy and give the people that share those same values a space.” Green says. “That has been effective and very gratifying.”