In fact, catholic priests drink it to this very day at the end of every mass.
They call it "Sacramental Wine"
LoL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrament ... atholicism[
edit]
Over the centuries, various criteria were laid down for wine to be appropriate for use in the Eucharist. Editions of the
Tridentine Roman Missal had a section
De Defectibus on defects which could occur in the celebration of Mass, including defects of the wine.[
example needed] Canon 924 of the present
Code of Canon Law (1983) states:
§1 The most holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist must be celebrated in bread, and in wine to which a small quantity of water is to be added.§2 The bread must be wheaten only, and recently made, so that there is no danger of corruption.§3 The wine must be natural, made from grapes of the vine, and not corrupt.
[6]
This means that the wine must be naturally fermented with nothing added to it, and the wine itself cannot have
soured or become
vinegar, nor can it have anything artificial added to it (preservatives, flavours). While the Catholic Church generally adheres to the rule that all wine for sacramental use must be pure grape wine and alcoholic it is accepted that there are some circumstances, where it may be necessary to use a wine that is only minimally fermented, called
mustum.One exception was historically made regarding wine-derived additives to wine. An 1896 directive of the Congregation of the Inquisition stated:
To conserve weak and feeble wines, and in order to keep them from souring or spoiling during transportation, a small quantity of spirits of wine (grape brandy or alcohol) may be added, provided the following conditions are observed:
- The added spirit (alcohol) must have been distilled from the grape (ex genimime vitis);
- the quantity of alcohol added, together with that which the wine contained naturally after fermentation, must not exceed eighteen per cent of the whole;
- the addition must be made during the process of fermentation.[7]