The best winery lighting uses warm, dimmable 2700K pendants in the tasting room, low-heat LED kept away from the racks in the barrel room, and wet-listed fixtures on the crush pad. Outside, light the entry, patios and paths with shielded fixtures aimed down, so the vineyard stays dark and the stars stay out.

Picture late afternoon at the tasting bar. Sun slants across the rows outside, a pour of red catches the light, and the room glows amber against old timber. After dark the same building turns into a wedding venue, with the dance floor dimmed low and the doors open to a lit patio. Down the hall, the barrel room sits cool and quiet.

Bock builds fixtures for every one of those rooms. The Step Neck Dome and Standard Dome are spun-aluminum RLM shades, cULus listed for wet locations, that hang over a tasting bar as easily as a crush pad. Wood-accent pieces like the Pallone with Wood Top and Nola disc sconce bring red oak into the room. Madeira wood poles carry the look out to the parking lot and the vineyard path.

The best winery lighting uses warm, dimmable 2700K pendants in the tasting room, low-heat LED kept away from the racks in the barrel room, and wet-listed fixtures on the crush pad. Outside, light the entry, patios and paths with shielded fixtures aimed down, so the vineyard stays dark and the stars stay out.

Picture late afternoon at the tasting bar. Sun slants across the rows outside, a pour of red catches the light, and the room glows amber against old timber. After dark the same building turns into a wedding venue, with the dance floor dimmed low and the doors open to a lit patio. Down the hall, the barrel room sits cool and quiet.

Bock builds fixtures for every one of those rooms. The Step Neck Dome and Standard Dome are spun-aluminum RLM shades, cULus listed for wet locations, that hang over a tasting bar as easily as a crush pad. Wood-accent pieces like the Pallone with Wood Top and Nola disc sconce bring red oak into the room. Madeira wood poles carry the look out to the parking lot and the vineyard path.

A working winery is a farm, a factory, a bar and often a wedding venue on one property.

Tasting room and bar

Winery tasting room design starts with color. Use 2700K to 3000K and high-CRI LED so a guest can judge the color of a rosé against a white napkin. Hang RLM domes over the bar, with the bottom of the shade about 30 to 36 inches above the counter. Put the bar, the tables and the retail wall on separate dimming zones. The Step Neck Dome comes in 90 CRI LED options and in sizes from 12 to 24 inches.

Barrel room and cellar

Wine does not like light, heat or UV. Use LED, which gives off almost no UV and little radiant heat, and keep light levels low. Aim it at the aisles and the floor rather than at the barrel heads or bottle racks. Cellars are cool and humid, so a damp or wet listing matters. A dome or Deep Bowl over the aisle, dimmed low, lights a tour path without warming the wood.

Crush pad and production

The crush pad gets hosed down after every pick, and tank rooms run wet all harvest. Specify wet-listed fixtures here. The VP Vaportight Pendant is sealed against moisture, rain and corrosive fumes. It takes a Lexan globe where a fixture hangs over open fruit or juice.

Event barn and pavilion

Event barn lighting has to fill a tall timber frame without flattening it. Oversized Shades from 24 to 42 inches hold their scale under a high ridge. The BGL gives up to 12,000 lumens with 0–10V dimming, so a barn wedding can go from setup to first dance on one fixture.

Entry, signage and paths

A gooseneck over the winery sign, a Lanterna sconce at the door, and Madeira poles or Profile Z bollards along the path guide guests to the door without lighting up the vines.

Patio and terrace

Wet-listed domes on gooseneck arms or wood poles, aimed down at 2700K, light the tables and leave the sunset alone.

Wineries grow in stages: tasting room, then event barn, then a bigger cellar. Plan fixtures for all three.

One look from the bar to the barn

Pick one shade profile and carry it through. A Step Neck Dome open over the tasting bar, the same dome with a globe and guard on the crush pad, and a galvanized version on the barn's gooseneck arms read as one design. Stonegait Winery in Madison, Ohio, pairs the Standard Dome and Step Neck Dome the same way.

Distillery lighting: know where the line is

Distillery tasting rooms and barrel houses work much like a winery's. Firestone & Robertson's Whiskey Ranch in Fort Worth uses the Step Neck Dome, and J. Rieger & Co. in Kansas City uses the BGL. The still house is different. Areas near stills and spirit receivers may be classified hazardous locations because of ethanol vapor. Bock fixtures, including our vaportights, are not rated for classified locations. Your engineer should mark the classified zones on the drawings, and we will light everything outside them.

Warm wood and finishes

The Wood Topper AH, Pallone with Wood Top and Nola all use red oak. Our shades are powder-coated to order, so you can match the tasting-room steel, a barn red or a label color. The Galvanized Step Neck Dome suits a working barn. Order a finish sample before you approve the whole run.

Controls for events

Put the tasting room, the event barn, the patio and the site lighting on separate circuits. Choose 0–10V dimmable LED for any room that hosts weddings. Event barns count as assembly spaces, so coordinate emergency and egress lighting with your electrician and code official.