Sacramental wine

I lost my faith a long time ago. However, through my upbringing, the Catholic faith was instilled in me at an early age. Until I was 12, I had to go to church every weekend and when I reached this age, what usually happens with things that are imposed on you against your will, happened; I left the faith. Today I believe in only one God, Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, also called Bacchus by the Romans. My daughter is named after him (Denise).

However, during those boring Saturday evenings or boring Sunday mornings at church, there was always one thing that caught my special attention. During the preparations for communion (receiving the host), the pastor always took a large silver or gold chalice and filled it generously with wine. Before the chalice was completely emptied, there was no host available for anyone. Considering the large gulps with which this divine drink was consumed, it usually did not take that long, apparently the contents were very tasty...

And that brings us to the question: What is Sacramental wine?

Sacramental wine must meet certain conditions for use within the Roman Catholic Church. For example, the wine must be natural and may be made exclusively from grapes. Until the first half of the 15th century, only red wine was used. Red wine had the blood of Jesus as its symbol. With a view to shelf life, the sacramental wine must contain at least 14% alcohol (to prevent rapid spoilage). If the wine does not have this alcohol percentage, alcohol must be added. Only alcohol derived from grapes is permitted. During Mass the wine must be mixed with water, this symbolizes the two natures (the divine and the human nature) of Jesus. In 1478, white wine was allowed as mass wine for the first time. However, this mass wine was not made from white grapes but from red grapes. Because the flesh of a wine grape is colorless, you can make a white wine from a red wine grape (think of a “Blanc de Noir” for example). Allowing white wine actually had a very practical reason; The stains in the priest's clothing and on the wipes used to wipe the chalice were very difficult to wash out...

About 35,000 bottles of sacramental wine are bottled for the Catholic Church in The Netherlands every year and this comes from Catholic regions in Spain, Italy and Greece. Before these can be transported to the Netherlands, the local bishop must personally issue a certificate of authenticity proving that the wine is made exclusively from grapes and therefore no other fruits have been used in its manufacture. Today, most sacramental wine is made from the Muscat grape. Wines from this grape are usually quite sweet, which has the advantage that they are also pleasant to drink during morning mass. Drinking a dry white wine early in the morning is a bit heavy on the stomach for most people...

Within the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, only red wine is used. The Orthodox churches also require sacramental wine to be a natural wine.

In the Protestant church they speak of communion wine. Just like Orthodox Christians, Protestants only use red wine as communion wine due to the symbolic nature of the color. In the mid-nineteenth century, in the context of combating alcoholism, wine was also replaced by red grape juice in various evangelical churches.

According to a newspaper report, more and more priests in Belgium are using port instead of sacramental wine at the Eucharist, not because it is tastier, but because sacramental wine deteriorates too quickly in quality. An opened bottle of this wine is no longer drinkable after a week or two. Port, on the other hand, stays good for months.

There used to be more church services than there are nowadays and that meant the bottle of sacramental wine was empty more quickly...

Roel Peters RP-Vinos USA