Is this North Melbourne’s newest, and only, wine bar?

After teasing locals with the promise of wine, beers, aperitivos and tasty morsels for months, Lumen People is now open for night service.

As a suburb so well serviced with great cafes, roasteries, pubs and restaurants, it’s a surprising realisation that North Melbourne is seemingly bereft of a casual setting to enjoy a glass or two.

On opening their first solo café earlier this year, Emma Sheahan and Marichi Clarke, the couple behind Lumen, always intended to fill that void.

It was always going to be a wine bar that acts as an extension of their ubiquitous passion for conscious and considerate farming, a deep understanding of the industry and a love for approachable hospitality.

“We source wines similarly to how we source our coffee,” Sheahan said. “From people who live good lives, look after soils and farm responsibly.”

“Ours is a mix of traditional and lo-fi wines. Many are bio-dynamically farmed, with minimal impacts on the environment.”

“We want to put things on our menu that speak to us, what we would want to do ourselves, and have that great story behind them. Stories are important and develop that sense of place.”

Lumen’s modest wine list largely sits in an approachable range between $15 and $20 for a glass, pouring drops like Avani Wines’ Amrit 2022, a pinot gris from the Mornington Peninsula, or their Good Intentions pinot noir from Mount Gambier.

Coming out of the kitchen you’ll find a selection of snacks designed to complement and elevate what’s in your glass.

Snacks like Yurrita anchovies, LP saucisson and Charles Arnaud Comte are all accompanied by bread from Queensberry St bakers, Bread Club.

“Our favourite venues are the simple, opt-in approach, with a great wine list, delicious snacks and a low fi environment with high skilled chefs banging out some awesome dishes,” Clarke said.

We’ve had a great response from regulars who usually come in during the day, who’ve watched us talk about evening service and they have responded to it well.

“There are some fantastic restaurants in the area. We could compete with them, but we don’t want to. They are doing such a great job. We want a place that we would love to see in North Melbourne and perhaps fill the gap with something that has been missing.”

Lumen’s night trade runs from Wednesday to Sunday, 4pm to 10pm, with the hope of extending those hours as Melbourne begins to thaw out from winter. •

For more information: Instagram @lumenpeople