Corkscrew Wine Shop & Bar is making its way back to Huntersville, with plans for a new downtown spot set to open in 2026 after the wine bar was pushed out of Birkdale Village. For Lake Norman regulars who treated Corkscrew like a neighborhood living room, the return is a long time coming. Owners say the new location will stick with the relaxed, wine-driven menu and easygoing neighborhood feel that turned the original shop into a local staple.
The move was first reported today by the Charlotte Business Journal. Corkscrew lists the new downtown address on the Corkscrew website as 111 Gilead Rd, Ste B1 and notes that the Huntersville location is expected to open this year.
How Corkscrew Lost Its Birkdale Home
Owners and long-time staff have said the Birkdale closure came as part of a redevelopment that reshaped the center's tenant mix, and Corkscrew simply did not make the cut. In 2022, Joseph Klosek, Corkscrew's director of operations, told WBTV that the business had been told it "was not going to be a part of the new vision" for Birkdale.
Holbrook At Town Center Lands A Headliner
The new Corkscrew is planned for The Holbrook at Town Center, a mixed-use project that has been lining up local retailers for its ground-floor storefronts. The development team has highlighted Corkscrew as one of its early retail tenants. As the Charlotte Observer/CharlotteFive reported, developer Shane Seagle has tied the project's retail lineup to a broader push to revitalize downtown Huntersville.
What Regulars Can Expect
The Corkscrew brand appears to be sticking with what loyalists know and like. The website touts dozens of wines by the glass, an extensive bottle list and light bites, signaling that the new spot will lean into the same wine-first, small-plates formula. The site also lists hours and a local contact number for the Huntersville location, hinting that the concept will follow the original shop's late-afternoon to late-evening service schedule rather than trying to reinvent itself.
All of this is playing out as Huntersville retools its retail districts. Birkdale's redevelopment and ongoing debates over density have fueled public conversations about which long-standing businesses stay and which get swapped out for new concepts, a trend covered in reporting by Axios and in developer materials. For now, Corkscrew fans will be watching construction fences, permits and opening timelines as the downtown comeback slowly takes shape.
