Your winery lets you pour their estate wine; it will not let the caterer sell your guests cocktails. That is the exact gap we fill. We are the licensed outside bartenders a Temecula, Santa Ynez or Malibu winery requires — RBS-certified, dry-hire — so your couple's bar menu can include beer, spirits and the signature cocktail you have been building for a year. From $1,495.
California wineries operate under a Type 02 winegrower license from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. That license lets the winery sell their estate wine on-premises — which is exactly why they can host your wedding and pour your rose during cocktail hour. What that license does not do is let the winery (or its caterer) sell your guests tequila, whiskey, beer or cocktails. Different license entirely, and most wineries have no interest in applying for it: a Type 47 full-liquor license would subject the entire estate to a different regulatory regime.
The practical result for your wedding: the winery pours their wine, the caterer serves food, and if you want anything with a shaker on it, somebody else has to pour it. That is where we come in. California ABC rules allow a licensed outside bartender — RBS-certified, under the client's dry-hire arrangement — to serve beer and spirits that the couple provides. It is the only legal path to a full bar at a working winery, and it is the model La Barra Co. was built around.
We confirm the setup with the winery's event coordinator two weeks out and bring a compliance documentation to the morning-of walk-through. No surprises for the couple, the venue or the mother-of-the-bride.
Winery weddings skew bigger than backyard weddings — most are 80-150 guests, with the venue requiring 2+ bartenders and a 4+ hour reception. Signature is the standard tier; Grand is for 150+ guests or 5-hour service with batch pouring.
Four wine regions within driving distance of LA host most of our vineyard weddings. We know the coordinators, the licenses, the bar footprints and where the van parks.
If your winery is not on this list, we probably still cover it — send the venue name and we will confirm.
The whole reason you are hiring an outside bar is that your guests will want something other than wine for four hours. Here is the menu work we do with winery couples:
A 120-guest Temecula wedding on the Signature tier: $1,495 for the bar service plus a $200 travel fee. Beer and spirits that the couple provides at retail run around $1,200-$1,800 depending on the signature cocktail list. Estate wine is paid directly to the winery under their event rate (usually $25-$45 a bottle for 20-30 bottles). All in, the full bar at a Temecula vineyard wedding lands somewhere between $4,000 and $5,500 — roughly $35-$45 per guest with everything in. A standard winery-caterer bar package for the same event quotes $55-$80 per guest.
Full package breakdown and add-ons on the pricing page. No mandatory gratuity.
The winery almost always requires you to serve their estate wine — that is why they let you host the wedding. The couple buys the wine from the winery at a wedding rate (sometimes with a case-count minimum), and we pour it. For beer, spirits and cocktails, you buy those separately at retail in your name under the dry-hire model, and we serve them from our bar.
Yes — this is the exact reason wineries hire outside bar service. The venue's wine license allows them to sell their estate wine. California ABC rules allow a licensed outside bartender (RBS-certified, under the client's dry-hire arrangement) to serve beer and spirits the couple provides. We confirm with the venue coordinator before the event so there is no surprise.
Yes. Temecula is a 90-minute drive, Santa Ynez is 2.5 hours, Malibu wine country is 45 minutes. Our bartenders leave with a three-hour buffer on long-drive events and arrive 90 minutes before service. Overnight stays are included on Santa Ynez events (bartender hotel on us).
A disclosed flat travel fee per event, quoted upfront. Temecula typically runs $150-$250, Santa Ynez $350-$500 (includes overnight), Malibu wine country $125. No per-mile surprise — the quote is the number.
Yes. On every winery wedding our lead bartender has a 15-minute call with the venue's event coordinator two weeks out: license line of what we are allowed to serve, timing of ceremony/cocktail hour/reception, bar footprint, parking for our van, pouring plan for the estate wine. The venue coordinator never gets a surprise on wedding day.
Unopened bottles of beer and spirits (the ones you bought at retail) go back to the store under California's return policy, materially reducing your actual spend. Opened and unopened estate wine — that is your decision with the winery; most will not accept returns on their own labels. We send a leftover audit at breakdown.
Tell us the winery, the date and the guest count. You get a real price the same day, a venue-coordinator call set, and a bartender who has worked the vineyard circuit from Temecula to Santa Ynez.
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