Drink: Lums Chums

LUMS

CHUMS

A new wine bar in an old building sounds faintly Biblical, and, as new arrival on Hay Street, Lums Wine Bar already garners a devoted following, Monique Ceccato takes a deep dive into the eclectic wine list.

Chablis, skin contact, lees, wild ferments - navigating the wine world and its jargon can be daunting. But, Lums Wine Bar’s Mitchell Jenkin is on a mission to change that.

Si Vintners’ strawberry-hued Baba Yaga is one of Mitchell Jenkin’s favourite wines. A blend of skin-contact sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon, it’s got berries and rose petals on the nose and a touch of frizzante on the palate. But ask him what to expect from the drop, and more user-friendly terminology – like, "super refreshing" and "a great wine for drinking in the sun" – is what you’ll likely hear.

“Wine can be intimidating and scary for a lot of people,” says Mitch, one of the four proprietors behind Lums Wine Bar on Hay Street. “You can go to some places and feel stupid for asking questions or ordering something that isn’t on trend. It’s not fun.”

Feeling ostracised for not knowing your pinot grigio from your pinot gris is the very antithesis of the winedrinking experience. It’s a beverage that’s best shared, one that’s supposed to bring you together over conversation and a good time. That same ideology is what drives Mitch’s vision for Lums.

“We wanted it to be super friendly, welcoming, and not too pretentious,” he says.

Mitch is well-versed in creating a space with a laid-back and welcoming atmosphere, having achieved it in his first endeavour, the West Australian-themed bar and cafe - Bark. It’s never taken itself too seriously, which is evident in the quintessential Australiana decor and extensive beer list complete with tinnies of Emu Export. Opened in 2018, it’s now well and truly found its groove, and Jenkin was ready for his next challenge.

“There are always 10 ideas of ‘what’s next?’ in [your head],” he says. “I’d always wanted to do a wine bar, and I walked past [this building] one day and called the owner straight up. He was keen on the idea as well. But, we didn’t want the wine bar to be too high-brow. We wanted it to have the same kind of ethos as Bark.”

The first step in achieving that vision was stripping the 100-year-old building of its white false ceilings and stark fluorescent lighting. Now, the venue is back to its bones, and its true character shines. Original and

imperfectly aligned jarrah floors, textural plaster walls, and lead lighting panels are just some of the heritage features now front and centre, the forest green tile-clad bar tying it all together.

Behind it, Mitch and the team have curated a wine list that caters to novice wine drinkers, wine experts, and everything else in between. The countertop ice bucket holds reasonably priced classic chardonnays and pinots, sold by the glass. On the timber shelving above, bottles of champagne in the four-figure region and a host of funky natural drops.

“We wanted Lums to be somewhere you could come in for a sweet white if that’s what you’re into,” he says. “Or, you could come in for something a little more fancy – whatever you like, really. When you’re choosing to come and spend your time and your money here, you should be able to drink whatever you want. It should be fun for everyone.”

Non-wine drinkers are catered for, too, with cans of beer, cider, and ginger beer in the fridge and a small but considered cocktail menu. Not content with serving a stock-standard mulled wine, head bartender Ariane DuBois, spent many hours poring over and modernising classic wine-based cocktail recipes.

For now, the menu is heavily West Australian skewed, but that’s something Mitch anticipates will gradually change in time as he builds stronger relationships with international suppliers. And that’s just the start of exciting updates in the pipelines.

“In the next month, we are launching the deck,” he says.

“The basement will become the wine cellar once we get a takeaway licence, too. Down there, there will be a lot more cellared things and some funkier, secret, rarer wines for people to be able to buy.”

PULL UP A CHAIR Lums has already established itself as the go-to bar of choice for wine loving Subi residents.

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