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The Vatican has been driving wine consumption since at least the 4th century.
We all know that wine is a key part of the Catholic Mass and Catholic culture, so it comes with little surprise that the Vatican has the highest per capita wine consumption in the world — each resident of the state consumes 19.2 gallons of wine per year on average. As explained by wine history magazine This Day in Wine History, the ties between the Vatican and winemakers go back to at least the 4th century, when Pope Julius I created the first papal winery.
By the 13th century, the Vatican State was acquiring wine both for personal consumption and as part of its provisions for the poor. As detailed by Liana Marabini in an Italian Catholic outlet, wine destined for philanthropic reasons was mostly sourced locally, while wine consumed by the pope and his staff was sourced from more far-flung locations like Mount Vesuvius, Greece, and Tuscany.
It was especially during the Avignon Papacy, when the Holy See was transferred to the French city of Avignon, that pontiffs’ appetite for wine contributed to the development of winemaking in regions like Provence, where winemakers produced wines destined for papal consumption, including Cassis, Marignane, Cagnes, Roquevaire, Aubagne, Cucuron and Manosque.
When the Holy See was transferred back to Rome in the 15th century, the Vatican experienced what experts called the “golden age” of Vatican wine. As detailed in This Day in Wine History, Pope Julius II owned vineyards in the Frascati region of Latium, while Pope Leo X levied a tax on wine for Roman winemakers to ensure enough wine was available in the city.
By the 16th century, the Vatican was almost self-sufficient when it came to wine production, with Pope Paul III expanding Vatican-run vineyards in reclaimed lands along the Tiber river. As reported in This Day in Wine History, the Vatican also established the world’s first “wine bank” during the 1500s by collecting amphoras of wine from other regions like Campania and storing them in wine cellars.
Continued below.
aleteia.org
We all know that wine is a key part of the Catholic Mass and Catholic culture, so it comes with little surprise that the Vatican has the highest per capita wine consumption in the world — each resident of the state consumes 19.2 gallons of wine per year on average. As explained by wine history magazine This Day in Wine History, the ties between the Vatican and winemakers go back to at least the 4th century, when Pope Julius I created the first papal winery.
By the 13th century, the Vatican State was acquiring wine both for personal consumption and as part of its provisions for the poor. As detailed by Liana Marabini in an Italian Catholic outlet, wine destined for philanthropic reasons was mostly sourced locally, while wine consumed by the pope and his staff was sourced from more far-flung locations like Mount Vesuvius, Greece, and Tuscany.
It was especially during the Avignon Papacy, when the Holy See was transferred to the French city of Avignon, that pontiffs’ appetite for wine contributed to the development of winemaking in regions like Provence, where winemakers produced wines destined for papal consumption, including Cassis, Marignane, Cagnes, Roquevaire, Aubagne, Cucuron and Manosque.
When the Holy See was transferred back to Rome in the 15th century, the Vatican experienced what experts called the “golden age” of Vatican wine. As detailed in This Day in Wine History, Pope Julius II owned vineyards in the Frascati region of Latium, while Pope Leo X levied a tax on wine for Roman winemakers to ensure enough wine was available in the city.
By the 16th century, the Vatican was almost self-sufficient when it came to wine production, with Pope Paul III expanding Vatican-run vineyards in reclaimed lands along the Tiber river. As reported in This Day in Wine History, the Vatican also established the world’s first “wine bank” during the 1500s by collecting amphoras of wine from other regions like Campania and storing them in wine cellars.
Continued below.
The wineries making the preferred papal vino
The Vatican has been driving wine consumption since at least the 4th century.
aleteia.org
