I’m not a person who knows much about wine. I like wine, but there is a jargon-heavy, old-world culture surrounding wine that often principally serves as a kind of after dinner shibboleth for the well-to-do that I find a bit off-putting.
I often feel the wine list in a restaurant is something that might give me a window into what it is like to be
dyslexic; I can tell there are words there, and I know that to some people they are words that hold intense significance, but to me they appear as difficult to interpret symbols with numbers next to them that slowly (or sometimes quite quickly) ascend as the page progresses. It is these numbers, which I do recognise as indicating a price, to which I am most often drawn, and which ultimately usually govern my choice of wine.
Into this space steps NoNo Wine Bar, a new venue in Granary Wharf in Leeds City Centre that promises to demystify the world of wine for those who, like me, would like to learn more but who have previously been discouraged by the intimidating and pretentious culture that often surrounds it.
NoNo Wine Bar is housed in one of the arches in Granary Wharf, down by the canal in an area of Leeds that has seen a few exciting openings of late. The space is open and interesting; a ground floor bar area has a small retail space with wines available to take away, and a surprisingly spacious mezzanine level is tucked away at the back and accessible by a wrought-iron spiral staircase. It is on this mezzanine level that we sit on our visit, overlooking the warmly lit bar below.
From the moment we arrive the staff are lovely. As we sit down, we are handed a paper menu as well as an iPad that features a menu that has been designed especially for NoNo. This is a smart invention that allows you to input what kind of flavours you like from your wine using fairly accessible language – options for white wine include “floral”, “savoury” or “citrus fruit” – and the menu offers you options that
correspond to your tastes.
I think it’s important to add that, for those who are disinclined to navigate their way through an iPad app to order their drinks, the attentive staff are always on hand and more than happy to talk you through the more traditional paper menu. After a little fiddle on the app, this is the route that we choose, and our very friendly server makes a couple of very successful recommendations. We order an orange wine from Greece and a viognier from France that are precisely to our tastes, and that is thanks, in no small part, to the considered input of a knowledgeable waiting staff, who seem genuinely invested in helping you to make the right choice.
NoNo isn’t limiting itself to just wines: there are food options to accompany your drinks and, perhaps to be expected of a space looking to upend expectations of your typical wine bar, there isn’t the selection of cheeses and cured meats on offer that you might expect. Instead, they are serving an inventive selection of bao from the Bao Bros kitchen shared with the venue next door.
On our visit, we try a selection of mini bao including a lobster Marie Rose bao topped with a crispy prosciutto, a Thai green tofu dog served in a bao bun, and a brisket slider. Not your typical wine bar fare, but certainly an enjoyable accompaniment to our wines and it will be interesting to see how their apparent plans for a tasting menu, each course paired with a specially selected wine, develop.
Our evening at NoNo is an enjoyable one. Gone is the hot-faced flush that follows the opening of a hefty and indecipherable wine menu and, in its place, is a more accessible alternative that enables you to focus on enjoying your wine. Good news for those who are looking to learn more.
Venue Address: Arch U, Dark Arches, Granary Wharf
Opening Times (from 20th March):
Monday – Thursday: 16:00 – 23:00
Friday – Saturday: 12:00 – 00:00
Sunday: 12:00 – 22:00
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonowinebar
