Finding a delicious glass of wine at the airport has never been easier, thanks in part to wine bars like Vino Volo. Founded in 2005 and owned by travel retail goliath Paradies Lagardère, the chain has spread to 44 locations across the United States and Canada, providing waiting fliers with a wide choice of wines by the glass, flight or bottle, accompanied by charcuterie, cheese and more substantial fare. Its success has helped encourage the growth of creative, quality food-and-drink options as airports overhaul their terminals for a more pleasant traveler experience.
“In the travel hospitality industry, there is this perception that you’re just gonna get some greasy wings and a beer,” says Vino Volo’s national beverage director, Larissa Dubose. “But there are so many options out there now—the competition is fierce. You can go to the airport and expect to get a good meal, not just a burger or chicken tenders.”
Dubose joined Paradies Lagardère as national beverage director in 2022, coming from a career in beverage wholesale. Based in Atlanta, Dubose helps coordinate which bottles and flights will be available across all Vino Volo locations. General managers listen to their region’s customers and add local touches to the wine lists and menus, but her work helps set the pace.
Vino Volo’s bread and butter is their flights of three wines, each of which can also be ordered individually by the glass. If travelers are in a group or really love a wine they try, they can order bottles from the list, or buy a bottle to take home with them on the plane (akin to duty-free shops). The nationally available options change every nine to 12 months, says Dubose, with popular varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon swapped more frequently. Seasonal options such as “Spring Whites,” “BBQ Blends” or “Queens of Spain” (for Women’s History Month) are mixed in, sometimes with selected cheese pairings. Along with snacks and shareable cheese-and-more boards, a typical Vino Volo menu will feature personal pizza, salads, sandwiches and a couple larger dishes, like braised beef short ribs or a lamb ragu with fennel and mozzarella cheese.
One of Dubose’s main responsibilities is whittling down which bottles will make it onto Vino Volo’s wine flights featured across the country. This year the pressure was on, selecting from 550 possible wines competing to fill just 13 spots in more than half a dozen flights. To help with the heavy lifting, Dubose invites a few Vino Volo general managers from across the company to taste along with her. “They have great programs and wonderful palates,” says Dubose. “It’s an opportunity for me to be collaborative.”
While Vino Volo’s mainstay flights include options like “California Kings,” highlighting big Golden State reds, Dubose loves to slip wild-card bottlings into other flights, from a sparkling red Chilean País to a rare Turkish red blend to an aromatic Italian Pecorino. “With wine, you can explore; wine is my passport,” says Dubose. “If you can’t get to the airport all the time, it’s okay! We all have our budgetary constraints, but you can go to your local wine shop and travel through wine.”
Dubose sat down with Wine Spectator’s Julia Larson to talk about her favorite wine regions to visit, the difficulties of managing a wine program in an airport, the essential components of a great flight of wine, and the one type of wine that travelers can’t get enough of.
It seems like every airport has a wine bar these days. How does Vino Volo distinguish itself from others?
We were the first, but we’re not the only wine bar in the airport anymore. I kind of like to think that we’re the blueprint for how to create a successful wine bar in an airport, but it’s always going to be down to our people, with their commitment to hospitality. … And it’s our investment in [their] education. If you decide that you want to grow and go into management, then there are opportunities for you to go after your WSET, your Court of Master Sommeliers, whatever your path is. We invest in our leaders that way.
How do you compete with airline lounges, which attract frequent fliers and cardholders with free drinks and other perks?
The traveler has changed since COVID-19: The number of business travelers has rebounded, but it’s not where it used to be. And when you have these lounges, that’s typically where our key demographic goes. Yet, we’re open to anyone and everyone as long as you want to have a great experience and discover something new.
To appeal to the business traveler, that’s where our hospitality has to be the compelling factor. That’s where the wine list has to be different. It’s one thing to go and know you’re gonna get free wine; it’s another thing to pay for wine because you perceive the value. We do have such a committed fanbase that will search out Vino Volo in any airport.
What is the number one wine for travelers stopping at Vino Volo?
Sparkling wine. Consumption is through the roof … the volume is uncanny, like nothing else keeps up to it. I guess everyone loves a good mimosa!
Do customer preferences change based on the airport and where it’s located?
I’ve seen the terminal that a location is in [affects] customer preferences. For example, we have a location in an international terminal with more overnight flights, and it doesn’t sell as many mimosas as other stores. This shows the importance of giving our leaders some autonomy to cater their offerings to the travelers walking through their terminals.
What are some of Vino Volo’s biggest challenges being in airports?
No two airports operate the same. One of the things that I learned when we were programming last year was to create the lead time to ensure a more seamless execution. You have to build in some grease because, if everyone’s supposed to be bringing in products at the same time, everyone has different dynamics at play.
What is your favorite wine region to travel to?
With Vino Volo, education is a big part of who we are as an organization. So every year, our GMs will go to wine country. Last year, we went to [Oregon’s] Willamette Valley; the sense of community there was so beautiful, and the views have stuck in my head. I just recently came back from a trip to Chile. Everything’s the opposite; it’s summer there and the constellations are upside down! The stars are so bright, you felt like you could pick them out of the sky. We visited an area where they had the first Chilean wine grown on slate terraces [like in Portugal]. That view, it was so pure. It was just so green.
What are the essential elements in creating a great flight of wine?
I think there should be a balance of the familiar and esoteric. When I see something that’s different and that I’ve never tried before, I can just get a taste of it. Then it’s coupled with something I know; even if I don’t know the producer, I know the grape, the variety, the style of that particular wine. In the perfect flight, I want to be able to get a little bit of a surprise in the middle of it.
You are based in Atlanta. What does the Atlanta wine scene look like right now?
It is growing in a lot of ways. It’s growing in its diversity. There are some dynamic wine professionals in our community, and it’s been cool to sit front row and watch them finally get their chance to shine. … I’ve been here for 10 years now, and I feel like 2020 was the catalyst to the change that I’m seeing now. I remember walking into a room, looking around and not seeing many people that look like me. It doesn’t look like that anymore. … There’s always room for opportunity, but the Atlanta wine scene and community is continuing to grow and evolve.
Where do you drink wine in Atlanta, outside of Vino Volo?
3 Parks. Sarah Pierre is awesome. That’s one of my besties, and she has a brand new location that's so sexy and cool!
Which airport do you think is underappreciated?
I was impressed with Denver! I didn’t realize how big Denver’s airport was. I think the food and beverage selection is top-tier. Denver isn’t a city that I would necessarily go to for vacation—I’m going somewhere warm—but the airport is fantastic.
What are you drinking right now?
Bubbles! People save sparkling wine or Champagne just for celebration. Every day is a celebration! Hard day, great day, every day in between. I’m a mother to a beautiful eight-year-old daughter who overflows with leadership skills. I’m a newly indoctrinated soccer mom. I deserve bubbles!
