With time running out until he was deported back to Canada, Tyler Alkins had to start a new business or be forced to leave the place he called home in Nashville, TN.

So he decided to do what he always dreamed: make wine.

Though Tennessee is better known for whiskey, Tyler saw an opportunity to create a wine that was approachable in its taste, price, and presentation. So he recruited some of the most well-known winemakers from Italy and California to teach him processes perfected over centuries to create a wine that’s expertly crafted and perfectly chuggable.

The wine they create together is brought back to Nashville, where it is finished and bottled or canned locally in a winery that Tyler and the small team built in an abandoned car garage less than a mile from downtown, originally called Nashville Urban Winery.

In March of 2020, a tornado ripped through Nashville Urban Winery and destroyed the bar/shop side of the winery. After almost two years and a complete overhaul of the building, Tyler decided to name the bar after the wine made inside. Love and Exile Bar was born in September of 2021 and is now a restaurant + bar, event space, and winery that sells the full line of Love and Exile wines.