WATCH: ‘Rebel Against the Ordinary’ at Rebellion Wine Bar in Cocoa Village

By  //  May 24, 2022

FEATURING extensive and exclusive offerings of natural wine

WATCH: Hungry for something new and high quality? Rebellion Wine Bar is located in Historic Cocoa Village at 630 Brevard Avenue and was “born not just out of necessity, but out of the extraordinary. In order to live our daily lives, we must celebrate the defiance of the trite and the banal. At Rebellion, we rebel against the ordinary.” Space Coast Daily’s Giles Malone is at Rebellion to show you what it’s like. The organic wines are excellent but the food is extraordinary with magical melts and delicious bites. Owner Michelle Herndon and Joe Yardley show the good stuff. Check it out!

WATCH: Rebellion Wine Bar owners Joe Yardley and Michelle Herndon sat down with Space Coast Daily’s Karina Connor to learn a little bit about their journey and what inspired them to open Rebellion Wine Bar, where their motto is  “Rebel Against the Ordinary.”


BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA VILLAGE, FLORIDA – One thing that defines Rebellion Wine Bar, located at 630 Brevard Avenue in Cocoa Village, is its extensive and exclusive offerings of natural wine.

Rebellion Wine Bar owners Joe Yardley and Michelle Herndon sat down with Space Coast Daily’s Karina Connor to learn a little bit about their journey and what inspired them to open Rebellion Wine Bar, where their motto is  “Rebel Against the Ordinary.”

“So we’re both locals that graduated from Rockledge High and grew up in Cocoa and Rockledge,” said Yardley, who is co-owner/chef of Rebellion Wine Bar.

“I’ve had a long journey with food and wine. I’ve been a chef in New York and New Orleans and Miami and wanted to take everything that I had learned and bring it back home.”

Herndon’s career has focused on the medical industry and she said she decided to branch out and join Yardley on his journey with the Rebellion Wine Bar, “and kind of rebel against my nine to five.

Rebellion Wine Bar, which has been open for about six months now, is located in Cocoa Village just past the Magic Shop on the south side of Brevard Avenue.

“I lived in Manhattan for about ten years and really kind of really had my most growth there in New York City,” said Yardley.

Once a month Rebellion Wine Bar is doing a wine pairing dinner which is a four to five-course meal which is paired with wines. “We’re actually looking to add a cheeseburger to our menu on Wednesday nights,” said Joe Yardley.

Yardley said Rebellion Wine Bar is a new hidden gem in Cocoa Village, and the establishment has a definite New York City feel with just enough space to enjoy yourself and the people you’re with, but close enough to meet new people.

“We really did want to kind of create a metropolitan kind of feel,” said Yardley. “And it’s funny, lots of people come in and it reminds them of Savannah or Chicago or whatever big city it seems like they came from. We seem to remind them of that. So it seems to be working well.”

“We have created a fun environment where you can kind of relax and just unwind and enjoy some delicious wine and fantastic food and just have good company,” said Herndon.

There is something a little unique about the wine that Rebellion Wine Bar offers.

Rebellion Wine Bar’s selections focus on what they call natural wines, sustainable, organic, or biodynamic wines.

“We really put effort into making sure that the wines representing our menu are all grown in a very responsible way,” said Yardley.

“A lot of these winemakers are kind of rebelling against conventional winemaking, which is kind of a little bit of where the name came from. They’re really focusing on bringing back old natural methods of winemaking, going back to ancient times and doing things how they’ve always been.”

Yardley said there are actually 72 different additives that you can legally put into wine and these wines really focus on just having it be grape juice, natural indigenous yeasts, fermentation happening as naturally as possible, as little done to the wine.

“So you’re really just doing the work in the vineyard and making sure that all that hard work comes through in the winemaking and letting nature really run its course as opposed to manipulating and adjusting flavors and trying to get consistency,” said Yardley.

“It’s impossible to get consistency with the natural product. And so these winemakers are embracing that.”

Every other Tuesday, Rebellion Wine Bar offers a wine class, which is a fun, laid-back time where you can try a new selection of wines and learn about them.

We’ve talked a lot about the wine here at Rebellion Wine Bar, so now let’s dive a little deeper into the food.

“The star of the show here is the food!” said Herndon.

“Our small bites are fantastic. We have a beef carpaccio and anchovy toast that are great. Our grilled melts are really our main entree. They’re elevated grilled cheeses. There’s so much within the sandwich. We do an El Hyphae, our take on the Cuban, we have a spicy Salami bacon and the Cheddar Deluxe is my absolute favorite. We also have a shark reboard, and you can kind of mix and match and make your own, as well as our salads, which are extremely popular, the broaden and die salad.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL MENU

Every other Tuesday, Rebellion Wine Bar offers a wine class, which is a fun, laid-back time where you can try a new selection of wines and learn about them.

Yardley said that, just like the wines, they really try hard to source great cheeses and great meats work with a company in New York City called Murray’s on Leecher Street, and they ship fantastic saloom and prosciutto and great cheeses.

“It’s just really nice products that we’re lucky to get to use and we get to put those into the sandwiches and it’s really nice fantastic sandwich,” said Yardley.

The menu can change slightly because they want to make sure the ingredients are fresh and incorporate seasonal fresh food ingredients.

“We have a Cruto dish that we change sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, sometimes we change the fish, sometimes we change the set,” said Yardley.

“It kind of gives us a little bit of creativity, creative freedom and again, the ability to go to the fish market and take a look and see what’s best and take that back with us and share it with everybody.”

Once a month Rebellion Wine Bar is doing a wine pairing dinner which is a four to five-course meal which is paired with wines.

“We’re actually looking to add a cheeseburger to our menu on Wednesday nights,” said Yardley.

“Just kind of like a little late-night treat, where we’ll be doing truffle aioli along with a nice, creamy, brilliant, savoron cheese on top of Cryderman beef patty and it’s really fantastic. And again, it’s kind of limited so it should be loved.”

Rebellion Wine Bar has a full menu that they serve until midnight so this is definitely a good spot for some late-night eats.

“If you want something a little upscale and nice, then this is the spot!” said Yardley.

At Rebellion, they rebel against the ordinary.

Hours of Operation:

■ Open Monday-Thursday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
■ Friday-Saturday 4 p.m. to 12 midnight
■ Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Rebellion Wine Bar is located at 630 Brevard Avenue in Cocoa Village. For more information, call 321-806-3169 or log on to RebellionWineBar.com.

Rebellion Wine Bar has a full menu that they serve until midnight so this is definitely a good spot for some late-night eats. “If you want something a little upscale and nice, then this is the spot!” said Joe Yardley.
HOT OFF THE PRESS! May 16, 2022 Space Coast Daily News – Brevard County’s Best NewspaperRelated Story:
HOT OFF THE PRESS! May 16, 2022 Space Coast Daily News – Brevard County’s Best Newspaper