Taste Meets Style at This Quaint Nantucket Wine Bar
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Taste is in the details. So is everything else.
Gracie (left) wears the Remi Bangle and Leona Ring, styled with her own pieces. Emily (right) wears the Gia Bangle and Dane Bangle Set, styled with her own watch and rings.
Meet Gracie Schadt and Emily Hotter, sommeliers, business partners and the women behind Ethos, a charming Nantucket wine bar with the famously tiny entrance.
Together they've built something rare: a partially subterranean, always-buzzing room that, in their words, "unfolds like the best dinner party you've ever been to." They're also the founders of Pocomo Wine Co., under which they've created their very own organic Malbec-Cabernet Franc rosé.
But what makes them tastemakers isn't just the wine lists they've curated. It's the alchemy of discovery that feels effortless, personal even. It's the experience of inviting guests into a place they always wanted to exist but didn't, until Ethos was born.
Nantucket has become a special place for JENNY BIRD over the past three years, and Ethos has become one of the island's most noteworthy corners in its own right. So when we found ourselves back on Broad Street, we had to sit down with Gracie and Emily to talk about how they dress for 25,000-step days, what they do on rare nights off, and the details that make their style unmistakably theirs.
Gracie wears the Remi Bangles and Renzo Ring, styled with her grandmother's engagement ring.
Emily wears the Dane Bangle Set with the Dhani Bracelet, styled with her own watch and rings.
"We wanted a cool wine bar where you can have a really nice, delicious time."
Tell us about the start of Ethos.
Emily: It came together very serendipitously. Gracie and I were working on a business project together already. We met the owner of the space—she saw us and said, "Who are you, ladies? Come to my house for tea, I would love to know more about you."
We wanted a cool wine bar that has thoughtfully selected wines and shareable small snacks and plates. Where you can hide in a cozy corner with your friends, or be out on the patio, and just have a really nice, delicious time. Where you don't have to think about anything, because everything has already been so thoughtfully chosen.
Pocomo Wine Co.'s organic Malbec-Cabernet Franc rosé.
You made your own wine under Pocomo Wine Co. How would you describe it?
Emily: It's a very surprising Malbec-Cab Franc rosé. It's just not something you see. There's this beautiful color, wonderful texture, you get fruit but it's still dry. When we serve it people always say, "It's not what I expected, but I love it."
Aside from that, what have you been sipping on lately?
Gracie: We're always drawn to island wines, which is funny when you live on an island. Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia—so much salinity and freshness. And chilled red has just exploded, in varietals people haven't heard of and styles they've never seen.
Gracie wears the Remi Bangles and Renzo Ring, styled with her grandmother's engagement ring.
What's your personal style ethos for getting dressed?
Emily: I'm very much that coastal grandma girl. Linen top, linen pants, a chunky knit at night, a baseball cap... I can be on the beach, I can be in town.
Gracie: When it comes to dressing for work, I keep it pretty simple. It's about a 900-square-foot building and we log an easy 25,000 steps every day in here. It's full sport mode most of the time; it's always a great pair of jeans.
Emily: Guests are constantly asking us what jeans we're wearing.
Gracie: I'm in a dark top most of the time because I'm known to spill… that's part of my brand. So I really leaned on accessorizing, which is why we love JENNY BIRD. I'm constantly wearing earrings and fun belts and necklaces.
Is there a piece of jewelry that's especially sentimental to you—something you never take off?
Gracie: I wasn't always a big jewelry person, but started when my mom gave me my grandmother's engagement ring after she passed away. It was the first piece of fine jewelry I'd ever owned, and it felt like one of those moments where you suddenly feel like you've stepped into womanhood. It's a beautiful diamond on a two-tone band, and I love that it's a little unexpected. I think it kind of encouraged me to pick up more accessories and mix and match, especially with two-tone.
Gracie wears the 14K Princess Cut Diamond Drop Earrings and 14K Princess Cut Double Diamond Stud Earrings.
"It was the first piece of fine jewelry I'd ever owned, and it felt like one of those moments where you suddenly feel like you've stepped into womanhood."
Emily: I have a beautiful vintage topaz and seed pearl ring my husband gave me before we were even officially together. He surprised me with it, and it felt like this quiet sign that we were in it for the long haul. I don't wear it every day because I'm afraid of damaging it, but it means so much to me. The one piece I never take off is my wedding ring. It's a marquise salt-and-pepper diamond, and I'm deeply obsessed with it. It's so unique.
Emily wears the Dane Bangle Set, Remi Bangle and Dhani Bracelet, styled with her own rings.
What are some of your favorite things to do before work or after work, or even on a full day off when you're on the island?
Emily: Days off tend to be one of two things. In your bikini all day, salty and sandy, or once in a while, we're going out. Some days all I want to do is have somebody wait on me, order from somebody else's menu, pick a bottle of wine or have a martini. And it always becomes a night where we see friends, because all of them work in the other restaurants.
Emily (left) wears the Dane Anklet, Dane Bangle Set and Dhani Bracelet, styled with her own watch and rings. Gracie (right) wears the Dhani Chain and Remi Bangles, styled with her own ring.
