To many an intrepid traveler, the appearance of a Vino Volo during the schlep from airport security to the departure gate is a welcome alternative to the garden-variety airport bar with a small selection of often-insipid wines by the glass.
The Vino Volo wine bars that have started to pop up in airports throughout the nation typically offer a broad selection of red and white wines, wine-friendly snacks and enough ambiance to sooth even the most frazzled frequent flyer.
As I arrived two hours early at San Francisco International airport on a recent journey, I ducked into this oasis to kill time as I awaited my flight home. I ordered a tasty New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and settled in.
When the glass of vino arrived, the server placed it on a paper coaster that also doubled as a promotional piece for the wine I was about to taste. It was being offered for $23 a bottle. The price by the glass was $9. I quickly did the math and realized that if I ordered three glasses over two hours I would spend more than if I purchased the entire bottle.
So I did what any wine geek with two hours to kill would do: I ordered a full bottle. Even if I didn’t finish it, I would be ahead of the game and I could leave whatever was left with a fellow traveler, which is precisely what I did.
As my departure time neared, I asked for the check. The wine was indeed $23 per bottle, but a corkage fee of $12 had been added. Stunned, I called over the server and asked him to explain.
The $23 price, he said, was the "retail" price of the wine. The $12 corkage was for consuming the bottle on premise. This is a generally accepted practice in wine bars and restaurants that double as retail wine shops.
I protested nonetheless because the average traveler would more than likely not be aware that retail sales are in the Vino Volo business model. Vino Volo doesn’t look like a retail wine shop, nor does it feel like a retail wine shop.
The server then pointed me to the fine print at the bottom of page three of the menu/wine list that I had ordered from. There it mentioned the $12 corkage fee.
Nowhere on the promotional coaster, however, was the corkage fee mentioned. It simply read "$23 bottle." When I made that point, to his credit, the server readily agreed to take the corkage charge off the bill.
Great for me, but I wonder about those slightly dazed travelers who, in the rush to get the check and get to the gate, simply don’t notice the corkage fee, and assumed all along the bottle cost was what was advertised on the coaster.
I for one am thrilled to have Vino Volo on the airport scene. But this is a deceptive practice and should be corrected. It wouldn’t be hard to print clearly on the coaster "$23 bottle plus corkage."
If the true cost of consuming a $23 bottle of wine on premise is $35, that information would be good for a customer to know.
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