I ran across an assortment of clothing shops and various goods, all severely overpriced, as you might expect. In general I was a bit disappointed at the selection available to me there, and then I ran across Vino Volo.
What first struck me about the wine bar/restaurant was the clean and smooth look of the place. Then I was caught by the huge wine selection. My interest piqued I decided to walk in and see what it was all about.
In essence Vino Volo is a wine bar. The food, décor, and arrangement was very much like what you might expect in a mid-town Manhattan wine bar, or similar to many upscale bars throughout the nations larger cities. There was no music, nor other distractions. And the artwork on the walls was decidedly modern art, though not glaring or distasteful. And for all the modern styling, there was a very comfortable feel about the place.
I sat at the main bar, though there was plenty of seating inside for groups, and seating outside the bar where you could watch the passing traffic of people going to and from flights with ease.
I looked over the selection of wines. They varied in location, price, and style. There were several categories of the wines, each with 3 types of wine representing the group. The wines located on the left half of the menu are wines that are generally rotated with new selections every 2 - 3 months, those making it due to popularity on the right side of the menu are selections are more standard and only some are rotated off for new selections every 6 months or so.
I learned this about the selection of wines from Brian, the bartender on when I arrived. Brian was knowledgeable about the various wines and helpful in providing me clues about which wine he thought might be a good match for my tastes. He was also pleasant enough to discuss they young company, which started 3 years ago, and informed me that they were in 7 airports around the nation right now, including L.A. and New York.
Another great thing about the wines presented is the fact that you can get a taste of 3 separate wines to get an idea of their different flavors. Also aiding the patron, and providing you with a bit of information to purchase the favored wine for yourself in the future, was the charts provided with each wine. This provided the name of the winery, the grape used to make the wine, the wine and the year it was made. There even is a short description of the flavor of the wine as well.
In all I tried 5 wines, all reds. I prefer reds, so if you like white wine you will have to visit the location to taste them yourself. In order of my preference will list the wines, best at the top of the list
- 2006 Mirrabooka Shiraz from Australia – on the 6 month rotation list
- 2006 Farnese Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – on the frequent change list
- 2005 Rivetto Nemes Piedmont – Tour of Italy - on the frequent change list
- 2007 Villa Pozzi Nero d’Avola from Sicily - on the frequent change list
- 2006 Castillo de Monseran Grenache from Spain - on the 6 month rotation list
Top 5 red wines of Vino Volo:
I spent roughly $45 for the wine and food, not including tip. Overall I would say that the entire experience was pleasant and comfortable. The wines were of better than average quality and taste. The staff was easily capable of explaining the wines, mentioning their favorites, and in general good conversationalists. The establishment was clean, the presentation both of the food and the furniture crisp.
I recommend that any traveler in an airport that has a Vino Vello in it, and 15 minutes or more of time, go in and enjoy a bit of tranquility in what can easily be described as the suffering of airline travel these days.
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