Wine Bar Lands at JFK

Past the security checkpoint at American Airlines's new terminal 8 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, around the corner from the fast food joints such as Wok 'n' Roll and McDonald's, the airport's first wine bar, called Vino Volo, is opening today.

For stressed-out fliers, Vino Volo — with its ivory-washed walls, comfy tan armchairs, cordovan-stained wood bar counter, and low volume cool jazz — is all about inducing calm in the sometimes-lengthy, often stress-inducing, interval between flights. For wine buffs, this spot is all about surprise. Once through security, you might not expect to find an eclectic array of nonstandardized, yet user-friendly, wines in a SoHo-like setting. The selections are available by the glass or, better yet, in themed "discovery" flights (the name "Vino Volo" is derived from "wine flight" in Italian) of three small, reasonably priced pours. I chose a flight called "Taste of New York," and for a mere $9, it included modest pours of Millbrook Vineyard's lively chardonnay, Proprietor's Reserve 2005, the floral Herman Weimer's semi-dry riesling, Finger Lakes 2005, and a cherry-bright Bedell merlot, North Fork 2005.

This last wine was a lively partner to my choice from the menu of 14 "small plates": duck confit and lentil salad ($11). This rich dish got extra pizzazz from a sprinkling of crisp duck skin atop the tender, shredded meat and from a very fresh frisée salad dressed with a flavorful vinaigrette. I'd warmed up for that dish with a glass of the classy J Vineyards sparkling wine from California ($16) and a dish of Spanish marcona almonds filigreed with morsels of fresh rosemary ($5).

"We use a Bandol vinegar," my server, Robert, said. At that moment, we recognized each other: He'd previously worked at I Trulli, the wine-friendly restaurant on East 27th Street. Of three other staff members on duty, two had worked at the 21 Club, and the third at Columbus Circle Wine & Liquors, an underrated source for interesting wine.

Choosing one Vino Volo wine flight has a sneaky way of begetting another, as I learned when I asked a solo traveler, awaiting his delayed flight to Helsinki, Finland which was his favorite among the wines he was sampling. "Actually, this is my third flight," he said, of a trio called "California Kings." "My favorite wine was back in ‘World Noirs'($14)." He pointed to the Amisfield pinot noir from New Zealand. Before he finally left, the Helsinki-bound gentleman treated himself to a fourth flight called "Shades of White" ($10). The bar staff is trained, I was told, not to serve anyone who has had too much to drink.

Terminal 8's Vino Volo is the fifth in a San Francisco-based chain of airport wine bars that chief executive officer, Doug Tomlinson, expects to grow to 50 by 2011. The first opened in 2005 at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. The wine bar revelation came to him in his previous career as a management consultant, Mr. Tomlinson said in a telephone interview: "It was at a large airport in the center of the country which shall go unnamed. I was ending a project, and the team knew that I loved wine, but we chose beer instead because at that time, the airport world had not been introduced to any concepts of caring about wine. After you feel like you've been strip-searched at security, a good glass of wine is what you need."

Each glass of wine served at Vino Volo comes with a brief, jargon-free wine note ("Blueberry & Graphite" was the header for my Bedell merlot). "There aren't enough opportunities out there for wine to be fun and un-intimidating," Mr. Tomlinson said. "The mistake often made is that people confused the romance of wine with the elitism of wine."

In New York, wine shops or stalls that are not farm stands are forbidden from selling wine by the glass, and wine bars may not sell at retail. But by creating separate ownerships, Vino Volo has managed the neat trick of having a wine boutique a few steps from the wine bar. All wines on the bar menu, along with dozens of others, can be bought at the boutique. Purchases can be taken away or sent home to states (including New York) where, thanks to recent court decisions, shipping wine is now permitted. One wine that caught my eye was a blue-chip burgundy, Domaine de Courcel's Pommard Premier Cru, Grand Clos des Epenots, 2000, for $45.

Not everyone is pleased by the single-mindedness of Vino Volo. "But don't you have whiskey?" a European couple inquired. "I'm sorry, but we only serve wine," the server said.

"But you must have other alcohol."

"I'm afraid not."

The disgruntled couple walked out. But wine aficionados, long underserved on the far side of security check-in at JFK, can only feel empowered by the arrival of Vino Volo.