Quebec Catholic churches shift to environment-friendly altar wines
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (AHN) – Quebec’s Roman Catholic churches will soon shift to more environment-friendly mass wines. Instead of using altar wine imported from California, the parishes would use a newlocal wine to be made by the Domaine des Cotes d’Ardoise.
The use of local products would help cut the need for long-haul trucking, which in turn would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by transport firms.
Domaine owns a 7,500-hectare vineyard near Dunham, Quebec. The vineyard will produce the new Vin de Messe for the province’s Catholic churches. It is a sweet white wine with an alcohol content of 16.5 percent and retails for $19.50 a bottle. It is currently sold as Estafette Blanc, but would soon be relabeled and retailed at liquor stores across the province. However, Domaine would make it available directly to Catholic clergy in over 1,400 Catholic churches in Quebec covering 19 dioceses.
Steve Ringuet, owner of the vineyard, said they have the capacity to produce 40,000 bottles of wine a year. Half of Domaine’s production is white wine and the other half red wine. It uses the Gamay, Foch, Chelois, De Chaunac, Lucy Kuhlman and a small quantity of Frontenac grape varieties.
Brian McDonagh, director of social action of the Montreal Diocese, said the shift to locally produced mass wine is part of the province’s Catholic church’s efforts to be more ecologically responsible. But he added, heads of parishes will make the final decision if they want to try the new altar wine or use their old wine.
The shift to more environment-friendly products is part of the effort of the Montreal-based Canadian Center for Ecumenism to cut carbon footprints among religious groups in Quebec. Since the center’s launch in fall, over 25 Christian churches in the area have inked commitments to go into more environmentally sustainable practices. But they usually involved heating, insulation and recycling.
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