Red or white?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sarahq
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
FrDavid96 said:
Sacramental wines are all approximately the same price. They certainly vary, but not significantly. It’s not like we see the $4 bottles at one end of the store and the $500 bottles at the other (and the $2,000 ones in the back and you have to ask for them). The price differences just aren’t enough to truly matter.
Click to expand...
Oh okay. I wasn’t aware they were specific sacramental wines. For some reason I thought any wine could be used.
 
TrueLight said:
Oh okay. I wasn’t aware they were specific sacramental wines. For some reason I thought any wine could be used.
Click to expand...
I believe there are approved lists. Father here goes and buys it at either the liquor store or Walmart, he says.
 
TrueLight said:
Oh okay. I wasn’t aware they were specific sacramental wines. For some reason I thought any wine could be used.
Click to expand...
It’s actually both.

On the one hand, “any wine” can be used, so long as it meets the Church’s requirements.

On the other hand, some wineries specifically bottle and label sacramental wine to make things easier. There are only a very small number who do this (maybe 5 nationally); with a wide selection of wines.

Some bishops require that priests use wine that is specifically labeled as altar wine. Others don’t.

Sometimes, it’s not cost-effective for small wineries to make special “altar wine” labels because they just don’t sell enough. I know of a few where they cooperate with the local bishop. They sell their regular off-the-rack wines as altar wines, but they have a list of wines that the bishop has approved. When the purchaser says “I’m using this for altar wine” the clerk takes out a sheet of labels which read something like “approved for sacramental use by the bishop of…” and adds them to the bottles. Nice little system.

Some small wineries might label one or two varieties as “altar wine” without actually having a full selection of labeled altar wines.

The wine itself is the same; only the labels are different.

Some priests know that wine they buy in the store is exactly the same wine (produced by the same winery) that gets sold as altar wine. There’s no problem doing it that way, as long as the priest is certain that what he’s choosing is a valid choice.
 
FrDavid96 said:
It’s actually both.

On the one hand, “any wine” can be used, so long as it meets the Church’s requirements.

On the other hand, some wineries specifically bottle and label sacramental wine to make things easier. There are only a very small number who do this (maybe 5 nationally); with a wide selection of wines.

Some bishops require that priests use wine that is specifically labeled as altar wine. Others don’t.

Sometimes, it’s not cost-effective for small wineries to make special “altar wine” labels because they just don’t sell enough. I know of a few where they cooperate with the local bishop. They sell their regular off-the-rack wines as altar wines, but they have a list of wines that the bishop has approved. When the purchaser says “I’m using this for altar wine” the clerk takes out a sheet of labels which read something like “approved for sacramental use by the bishop of…” and adds them to the bottles. Nice little system.

Some small wineries might label one or two varieties as “altar wine” without actually having a full selection of labeled altar wines.

The wine itself is the same; only the labels are different.

Some priests know that wine they buy in the store is exactly the same wine (produced by the same winery) that gets sold as altar wine. There’s no problem doing it that way, as long as the priest is certain that what he’s choosing is a valid choice.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

It’s amazing the bits of knowledge that can be gleaned from CAF because of so many knowledgeable people.
 
YoungTradCath said:
I don’t understand the second paragraph, because white wine can be nasty. nastier than the nastiest red wine, but that’s just my opinion.
Click to expand...
I agree there can be very bad white wines. The worst wine I’ve ever had was red, but that was in Russia and it came in a sort of double-sized juice box. It was slushy at the bottom with pulp or something. :crying:
 
By the way, I’m sorry if I caused confusion with anyone about wine and the validity of the sacrament. As I said, I imagine people at the Vatican have thought of this question before and came to the conclusion that the species of grape doesn’t matter. To me this is just a fun opportunity to mix three of my favorite subjects- botany, history, and theology. But it’s occurred to me that my bringing up the issue could have been imprudent of a scrupulous person were to read it or something.
 
Our diocese has a list of over fifty approved altar wines of all colors that may be used at Mass.
 
Always red.

Every church in every country that I have attended have always used red.

It symbolises the Blood of Christ which is red.

I have never heard in my life white wine being used.

I did hear of a church that used rose wine instead of red although that maybe have been extremely watered down red wine.
 
We use a rose, and no, it’s not watered down red, I’m the sacristan and it comes straight from the bottle to the cruet and I have opened for the first time many bottles.
 
Cathryn said:
As a sacristan I prefer red, because I can see any Precious Blood that is on the linen or altar cloth, and can take care of it.
Click to expand...
That is a compelling reason. When I was a sacristan, I preferred white because it was easier to see if the wine had been fouled by particulate matter. Maybe split the difference and use rose? 🙂
 
Nelka said:
Always red.

Every church in every country that I have attended have always used red.

It symbolises the Blood of Christ which is red.

I have never heard in my life white wine being used.

I did hear of a church that used rose wine instead of red although that maybe have been extremely watered down red wine.
Click to expand...
This is the winery that provides the wine we use. We’ve used every colour they have depending on who was the pastor and what the liquor store could get.
 
Wow I’m surprised at how many are used to seeing red wine for communion! Like I said, at my church and on TV I’ve always only seen red. I thought it was interesting because red wine looks so much more like blood. But like someone said maybe using white wine requires the layperson to make a leap of faith!

Thanks to everyone for responding.
God bless
 
There is a well known altar wine called Angelica, which is a golden color and is 18% alcohol. One parish I visit regularly uses it and I generally choose not to receive from the cup there, as it is just too strong for my taste.

My parish used to use a rose box o’ wine (quite decent, but I never felt like I could drink it when it turned up at parties, because it was just too weird!), and recently switched to a sweet deep red altar wine in jugs.

I grew up in another denomination which used a particularly nasty sherry, perhaps to keep the altar boys from snitching any. I was very pleasantly surprised at my first Eucharist to discover that the accidents of the Precious Blood were actually quite tasty!
 
I put red but it is more pinkish. Dont know exactly what kind that is.🤷
 
My diocese doesn’t usually use wine, but when they do, in my experience they’ve always been red. However, it’s been -]some/-] a long time since I’ve last tasted it, so I don’t really remember anything else about it, apart from the humbling experience of receiving communion in both species.

I remember hearing from someone that non-alcoholic wine is also used though, especially in schools and the such.
 
This is interesting to me because I have always received red wine. I guess I prefer it too since it feels more like it is Jesus’ blood.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top