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Vino Volo, A Respite for the Weary Traveler
Vino Volo, Italian for “wine flight”, was founded in 2004 by a group of food and beverage savvy investors incorporated in San Francisco. Their mission is to provide a ‘sophisticated yet approachable post security retreat in airports’ across the U.S. I spoke with Chris Simmons, General Manager of Vino Volo operations across the country. He is currently based in Detroit to select and train staff. He brings with him a unique background in the arts coupled with wine and food industry experience and a passion for wine.
When I visited the shop I did not hold out any false hope of finding a wine lovers wine bar/shop in an airport concourse. There are so many wine shops sprouting up around the country that offer mediocre or a banal selection of wine and standard fare, with staff that are not up to snuff, I expected the same here. The concept intrigued me; however, and I pressed on.
rosemary ($4). Very savory and definitely met the yum factor. Chris suggested I try the cheese plate which offers a selection of 3 artisanal cheeses touched with a bit of Italian fig jam ($8). From the wine menu, I tasted the Shades of White wine flight that consisted of a 2008, Sherwood, New Zealand, Sauvignon Blanc; 2008, Villa Diana, Pinot Grigio; and 2007, Matchbook, California, Chardonnay. Cost: $9.00 for the three 2 oz pours. Next I sampled the the salmon and crab meat crostini ($8) and warm Brie and Prosciutto sandwich with fresh greens, baguette toasts and fig jam ($6). The salmon over-powered the crab meat a bit; however, this dish did work well with the very buttery, full-bodied, oakey-yet-pleasant Matchbook Chardonnay. The cheese plate with fig jam worked nicely with the Villa Diana Pinot Grigio. And, although not a huge fan of New Zealand Sauvignons, the Sherwood Estate brought to the table the expected in-your-face grapefruity quality that you might expect to find in New Zealand Sauvignons.
The selections were a treat and relief from standard airport fare with everything being prepared on premise. I tend to want to eat light while traveling and any of these selections would have provided just that. Vino Volo sets itself apart primarily because there is consideration of the seasoned traveler put into the wine selection. TLC is put into the hiring and training of energetic and customer focused staff. They purchase recognizable labels that are not available for purchase at grocery stores and also have on hand small yield wines from wineries that cannot be found or attained easily in the marketplace as a consumer.
As Joel Goldberg is noted as saying, “It doesn’t get better than this”! I give high marks to Vino Volo and what they are setting out to accomplish in the airport setting. Chris Simmons is the consummate host and seems very committed to offering a very high standard, wine tasting experience. There is just one downside: you will need a boarding pass in order to try them out.
Created: 6/6/2009 Edited: 6/7/2009