US: Vintner's quest for altar wine finally blessed
US: Vintner's quest for altar wine finally blessed
May 20, 2012 6
(SiouxCityJournal) - An old Model T Ford assembly plant that served for many years as a full-service auto dealership has a higher calling these days. Blessedly so.
It is where the third largest winery in the state of Iowa is located, producing 25,000 gallons of wine a year and serving 350 Iowa retailers and customers throughout the region.
The blessing?
That came on Feb. 17 when the first installment of altar wine from the Santa Maria Vineyard and Winery was presented to Bishop R. Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City by winery owner John Guinan and his associate, Sister Marie Hesed. It marked the culmination of years of work by Guinan and his wife Rose to find the formula for valid altar wine and then successfully produce a sweet one, the favored variety, and a tricky endeavor because of the restrictions involved. Nobody, it seemed, knew how to make valid altar wine.
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