Doug Tomlinson says frustration drove him to create Vino Volo, an upscale airport wine bar concept.
An oenophile who worked as a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting LLP, he recalls returning from a business trip in 2003 and wanting a good glass of wine while in between flights. Unable to find one, he realized he’d stumbled onto a niche-worthy idea.
“That’s how the genesis of the idea came to me,” says Tomlinson, co-founder of Taste Inc., the San Francisco-based parent of Vino Volo. Tomlinson also serves as Vino Volo’s president and chief executive.
“I’m an avid wine student and lover, and I quickly realized there were not enough places [in airports] that offered a good glass of wine at a reasonable price,” he says. “It seemed as though there was a real hole in the service offerings. What better place for a wine bar than at an airport where you have plenty of time to kill and you don’t have to drive?”
Vino Volo was founded in 2004, with the help of a diverse group of investors, including Paul Clayton, former Jamba Juice chief executive; W. Reed Foster, cofounder of Ravenswood Winery; and John Scharffenberger, founder of Scharffen Berger Chocolates.
In short order, Vino Volo, whose name when roughly translated means “wine flight,” opened at such locations as New York’s JFK International, Virginia’s Dulles International, Baltimore’s BWI Thurgood Marshall, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, Seattle-Tacoma International and California’s Sacramento International, among others.
The company’s newest store opened in June in Oakland, Calif., bringing the current number of units to 10.
In addition to selling wines by the glass, Vino Volo offers flights of wine consisting of three small pours that are the equivalent of one glass. Featured wines are from California, New Zealand, Italy, France, Argentina and Spain. In addition, depending on the location, regional varietals are sold as well.
Wines by the glass range from $6 to $45 and flights are priced between $6 and $28. Patrons also can purchase bottles of wine.
Carla Wytmar, Vino Volo’s director of development and marketing, says the idea was to make the concept as customer-friendly as possible.
VINO VOLO OWNER: Taste Inc.HEADQUARTERS: San FranciscoNO. OF UNITS: 10AVERAGE UNIT VOLUME: N/ASTATES WHERE LOCATED: California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and the District of ColumbiaTYPE OF CONCEPT: upscale wine barAVERAGE CHECK: $20-$30, depending on locationYEAR FOUNDED: 2004
“The bar business is complex, and the wine bar business is even more so,” she says. “Wine is an inherently intimidating and complex product to present properly. We wanted this to be a fun and enjoyable place where guests could discover wines. We wanted it to be as unintimidating as possible. What’s different about us is that we’re a wine company that happens to operate in an airport. We’re not just an airport concession operating a wine bar.”
Vino Volo also offers a food menu that features small plates and entrée-size dishes. Items include an herb-roasted chicken sandwich with arugula and red-pepper aioli, which is $5 for the small plate and $9 for the entrée; an artisanal cheese plate, $8; smoked-salmon rolls wrapped around crabmeat and radish sprouts, $8 and $14; braised-pork tacos, $6 and $11; and artisan cured meats, including prosciutto, fennel salami and Bayonne ham, $8 and $14. The food menu does not vary, but the wine menus rotate regularly, Wytmar says.
“We worked with a food-and-beverage team and in the beginning had four to five people on the team, including myself,” she says. “While each wine menu is different at every location, the food is the same at all of them. You can get eight different dishes in tapas or entrée portions and four bite-size items, and all are wine-friendly foods.”
The check average is $20 to $35, depending on the location and the mix of retail and bar business, she says.
All of the units are located in the post-security areas of the airports and average between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet in size. The company also is exploring the idea of rolling out kiosk versions that could be used in smaller, regional airport settings.
Tomlinson says Vino Volo’s traditional units are designed to reduce stress and feature plush, comfortable armchairs, wooden bar counters and ivory-colored walls.
Tara Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, operator of both Reagan National and Dulles International airports, says much of Vino Volo’s success lies in the cheerful design that attracts both sexes.
“It doesn’t look like a typical bar,” she says. “It has more appeal. It’s more relaxed looking, like a hotel lobby. Previously, bars were geared more towards male travelers than females, but Vino Volo is more gender-neutral, or more attractive to females even. I think they hit that niche in the market that hadn’t been addressed before.”
Bret McAllister, senior vice president of operations and chief financial officer of the Airports Council International North America, applauds Vino Volo for its inventive approach.
“It’s an innovative concept, one of the first to truly bring the wine bar into airports,” he says. “I’ve been to the one in Dulles and seen the one in Sacramento. I think it’s great, has an intriguing atmosphere and is comfortable. It provides another opportunity to pass the time.”
He adds, however, that the real attraction may be in Vino Volo’s retail aspect.
“I think the appeal is that there’s an opportunity to actually shop for wine,” he says. “Yes, you can do that in the duty-free shop, but if you’re traveling domestic you can’t.”
In Tomlinson’s eyes, Vino Volo’s biggest point of differentiation is its presentation.
“There are lots of companies and concessionaires doing alcohol in airports,” he says. “Certainly, we didn’t invent pouring a glass of alcohol at an airport. Some may call themselves wine bars, but none really train their people to bring wines to the guest in a fun educational way. We do.”
Tomlinson, who would not reveal Vino Volo’s annual sales, adds that the company is on track to have 50 units operating within the next three years. He also says he is interested in expanding oversees.
“Do we want to go internationally?” Tomlinson asks. “We haven’t researched it as carefully as we have domestic [growth], but we’ve been told by Asians and Europeans [that] they think our concept would do well. It seems like a natural progression, but there are still a lot of airports here we’re not in.”— [email protected]