Such a metaphor, designed to evoke the concrete manifestation of God's love in the life of human beings wounded by sin, has had a lasting cultural impact on Christian societies that since then have always associated these two culinary elements with sanctuaries of divine tenderness and mercy.

It is with this desire to offer the people of God a glimpse of divine goodness that the Benedictine monks and nuns of Le Barroux, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France, have followed in the footsteps of their predecessors, who, since St. Benedict of Nursia, has been at the leading edge of the production of wine in the West.

They have resumed the wine-growing activity of their lands were, almost seven centuries earlier, Pope Clement V planted the first papal vineyard of France.

In 1309, this pope who is known for having moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon and settled his vacation resort in the Benedictine monastery of the Groseau in Malaucène, a small village adjacent to Le Barroux, located at the foot of Mont Ventoux.

The straw wine produced by this vineyard was particularly appreciated by his successor, Pope John XXII, who continued to serve it to its most distinguished guests.

But it was not until the 20th century, after the First World War, that the winemakers of the canton of Malaucène started to enhance this terroir by striving to develop high-quality products, with a desire to honour the glorious papal heritage of their land. Their long quest for excellence was rewarded in 1973 when they obtained the status of "AOC Ventoux" (Protected Designation of Origin).

It was at that period of time that monks returned to this region when Dom Gérard Calvetestablished the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, located on Malaucène's borders. Their wine-growing activity, however, did not start until the arrival of a community of nuns at the adjacent Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation, in 1986.

Saving an endangered terroir

This monastic presence, whose farming activity focuses mainly on the winery and the production of olive oil, turned out to be a true blessing for local families of winegrowers, at a time when it has become increasingly difficult for them to earn a decent living.

"There has been a lot of land abandonment over the past decade; small winemakers could no longer live from their work because the Ventoux designation was undervalued and winemakers were losing money," Gabriel Teissier, director of development at Via Caritatis, told the Register. "Indeed, mountain agriculture, made of many small and nested plots, cannot be mechanized, and they were forced to do a very hard and uneconomical precision work on their vineyards."

The monks of the Barroux Abbey, whose winery consists of an archipelago of small plots shared with other winemakers, rapidly understood that the precariousness of the situation could also represent an opportunity.

Indeed, their environmental factors, called terroir(located at a height of 1,000 to 1,150 feet, between Mont Ventoux and the Dentelles de Montmirail range), benefiting at the same time from the Mediterranean climate of the south of France, the mountain freshness and from different soil types that complement each other, has all the necessary characteristics to make grand cru wines.

This is how, in 2015, the monks offered to join forces with their winemaker neighbours and make their terroir gain its letters of nobility in the wine industry. Continue reading

Alcohol abuse is no laughing matter, but is it sinful to drink and make merry, moderately and responsibly, during a holy season or at any other time?

As a historical theologian, I researched the role that pious Christians played in developing and producing alcohol.

What I discovered was an astonishing history.

Religious orders and wine-making
Wine was invented 6,000 years before the birth of Christ, but it was monks who largely preserved viniculture in Europe. Religious orders such as the Benedictines and Jesuits became expert winemakers.

They stopped only because their lands were confiscated in the 18th and 19th centuries by anti-Catholic governments such as the French Revolution's Constituent Assembly and Germany's Second Reich.

In order to celebrate the Eucharist, which requires the use of bread and wine, Catholic missionaries brought their knowledge of vine-growing with them to the New World.

Wine grapes were first introduced to Alta California in 1779 by Saint Junipero Serra and his Franciscan brethren, laying the foundation for the California wine industry.

A similar pattern emerged in Argentina, Chile and Australia.

Godly men not only preserved and promulgated oenology, or the study of wines; they also advanced it.

One of the pioneers in the "méthode champenoise," or the "traditional method" of making sparkling wine, was a Benedictine monk whose name now adorns one of the world's finest champagnes: Dom Pérignon.

According to a later legend, when he sampled his first batch in 1715, Pérignon cried out to his fellow monks: "Brothers, come quickly. I am drinking stars!"

Monks and priests also found new uses for the grape.

The Jesuits are credited with improving the process for making grappa in Italy and piscoin South America, both of which are grape brandies. Continue reading

• Michael Foley is Associate Professor of Patristics, Baylor University, Texas

Br John May, winemaker emeritus at the Jesuits' Sevenhill Cellars in the Clare Valley, was admitted as a member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of his significant service to winemaking, through contributions to professional associations, to regional tourism and to the Catholic Church in Australia.

Br John, who came to Sevenhill and the Clare Valley in 1963, said he was "deeply honoured" by the award.

A teetotaller when the Jesuits first assigned him to Sevenhill, Br John developed a taste for fine wine that helped the winery produce a line of medal winners over the years.

Asked which wine he had to toast his Queen's Birthday honour, Br John said he "didn't do a great deal about" the announcement.

"We had some ‘bubbles' - a Jansz sparkling wine," he said. "We did have a drink of St Ignatius which is our flagship red wine - I planted the grapes to make it.

"The first release (of the wine) was in 1991, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of St Ignatius (founder of the Jesuits)."

Br John said "we are all given gifts by God" and, when he was sent to Sevenhill, his commitment was "to exercise all my talents for the greater glory of God".

"Being a Jesuit, our motto Ad majorem Dei gloriam (For the greater glory of God) has been my guiding light," he said.

"Having devoted my life to the Lord, I do not expect to be honoured for my work which, for me, has always had its own rewards."

The talents he was expecting to be using at Sevenhill included his skills in building, welding and construction work but a new talent blossomed.

Br John's first vintage at Sevenhill in 1963 came soon after he arrived from Melbourne as a young Jesuit Brother to work as an assistant to the then winemaker Br John Hanlon.

"I was sent there as understudy to my predecessor, and spent seven years learning from him," he said.

"In 1972, he died suddenly and I became winemaker overnight.

"It was bit of a shock (but) I had a good memory and had made a lot of notes (working with Br Hanlon)." Continue reading

• Source: Catholic Leader

With Easter coming up on April 5, Vivino has taken the challenge to investigate what wine would have been served at the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus shared with his Apostles before his crucifixion.

To help us understand where and why the Last Supper took place, we turned to Father Daniel Kendall, professor of Catholic studies at the University of San Francisco.

And to better understand the winemaking process and wine styles available at the time of the Last Supper, we enlisted Dr. Patrick McGovern, adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia.

Where and When Was the Last Supper?
Needing to first establish a time and location that the Last Supper took place, as well as get an understanding of what drew this group together we turned to Father Kendall.

"The Last Supper most likely took place on the Thursday celebration of Passover, according to three of the four Gospels," says Father Daniel Kendall, S.J.

"The Gospels give a date of around A.D. 30. From the descriptions it was most likely a Seder meal. Since it was and is the most important of Jewish feasts, wine would have been part of the festivities. Unlike John the Baptist, Jesus drank wine."

The wine present would have had to pair well with traditional Seder fare, which includes: maror or chazeret, a type of bitter herb; charoset, a sweet, brown, pebbly paste of fruits and nuts; karpas, a vegetable (usually parsley or celery) that is dipped into salt water before eating; zeroa, a roasted lamb shank bone or chicken wing; and beitzah, a hard-boiled egg.

Knowing where and when the Last Supper took place gives us a chance to focus on one area and one time period and better address the next question on our journey: What styles of wine, grapes and winemaking techniques were available at this time? Continue reading

Sources

• Vivino
• Image: timeanddate.com

It is a deal which winery staff believe will put as big a sparkle on the faces of the first 50 people to hit the online "buy" button on December 9 as there are sparkes in the bottles of their latest bubble creation - Mission Fete . Continue reading

The vineyard has 73ha planted with mostly sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and pinot gris.

Cape Campbell Wines was put into liquidation almost two years ago. Cable Station was put up for tender in October 2010 by the receivers of the Cape Campbell Wines and has sat on the market till now.

Mission Estate chief executive Peter Holley said the company bought the vineyard to make sure it was getting fruit from the country's best wine growing regions.

It would help the winery - which this year celebrated 160 years' operation - move into new export markets, he said.

The former owners of Cape Campbell, Murray and Daphne Brown, who are long-time grape-growers, will continue to manage the vieyards.

Mission Estate was established in Hawke's Bay in 1851 by French Catholic missionaries, who belonged to the Society of Mary, an order of Catholic priests and brothers.

Vines were planted to produce both sacramental and table wine. The first record of a commercial sale dates back to 1870 when a parcel of mostly dry reds were sold.

Today Mission Estate is is operated by Marist Holdings (Greenmeadows) Ltd, which is owned by the Society of Mary

Source

• The Press
• Image: Harcourts