Wine in Religion and in Eastern Liturgies

IV International Altar Wine Seminar

For the fourth time the town of Cocconato d'Asti becomes the international capital of Eucharistic wine.

The Altar Wine Study Group is putting the final touches to the programme for the IV International Seminar, to be held on 9th October 1998 at the historic Casa Brina cellars of the Bava family wine company.

The Asti area is historically rich in both wine and saints, so it is most appropriate that the world's only International Study Group concentrating on research into liturgical and scientific documents and the fundamental role of the Catholic Church in the spread of viticulture should be based here.
The theme of the current conference is also most up-to-date, given the ever greater need to understand the culture of immigrants coming from eastern countries and the cultures based on variations of Orthodoxy and Islam.

The Seminar is usually intended only for the wine world and the clergy, but in this particular case it is also thrown open to anyone who is particularly interested in the thought-provoking subjects that will emerge from this edition's given theme.

The three previous conferences have had wide coverage in both the national and international press and broadcast media, so much so that the event is sure to be followed by articles in the press and broadcast programmes about the origins of today's wine production on several different continents reflected in literature, iconography and religion.

It was, of course, the need for wine to celebrate the Eucharist that lead the Church, through its missionaries and monastic orders, to bring the practice of vine cultivation to a good 33 different nations. Piedmont itself is a major beneficiary of the Church in this respect.

The Seminar is a one-day event divided into two halves. In the morning session two commissions composed of priests and oenologists will analyse current trends in the production of Altar wine from the point of view of both organoleptic characteristics and suitability to sacramental use. This
session is not open to the public.

The public may however attend the afternoon session held in the ancient brick-vaulted cellars of Casa Brina, where there will be a round-table discussion and report of morning's proceedings after a welcoming address by the Bishop of Casale, Mons. Germano Zaccheo.

Seminar participants who have already confirmed their presence include Fr. Sergio Mercanzin, director of Ecumenical Russia; Prof. Wladimir Zelinskij, who holds the Chair in Orthodox Liturgy at the Catholic University of the Sacro Cuore; Prof. Stefano Parenti, lecturer in Orthodox Liturgy at the Sapienza University in Rome; and others who will give comments and reports.

In one of the sessions, particular attention will be paid to the rules and requirements imposed by Canon Law on the production and use of Eucharistic wine with a fascinating analysis of Altar wines currently on the market.

As in the first three conferences, the costs and logistical operations necessary for the Seminar are entirely underwritten and undertaken by the Bava family, who have been wine producers in Piedmont for generations and who have made the theme of Altar wine a family passion and a 'cultural
divertissement' in a part of the Asti region that is already called 'the Land of Saints', being the home of Don Bosco, San Domenico Savio, and others. The enormous interest that the last edition of this Seminar caused in the international press and on television is proof of just how serious and unique the event is recognised as being.

UP-DATED INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED ON INTERNET IN REAL TIME

PICTURES OF PREVIOUS SEMINARS AND OF THE THEME OF ALTAR WINE IN GENERAL ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE ORGANISERS' OFFICE

Organisers' office:
Roberto Bava. Tel: 0141 907083 Fax: 0141 907085 e-mail: bavawine@tin.it
Paolo Massobrio. Tel: 0131 345 414 e-mail: massolon@tin.it

Il Vino sull'Altare, Casa Brina, Via Piave 29, 14023 Cocconato d'Asti

Rome Press Office:
Lisomar Silva. Tel & Fax: 06 321 0553 e-mail: silvacon@micanet.it