For those of you who know what wine is served at your church, what are your opinions of that particular variety? I personally purchase the wine for our communion, and have been buying Chateau Ste. Michelle Melot.

I know that this is subjective, and up to personal taste to a large degree, but what are your favorites wines to use, and why? I am looking to provide the best variety for the purpose of the Lord's supper.

Please only those who use wine in communion participate. There is another thread on the wine vs. grape juice!

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Jeff Bartel
Mechanical Engineer
Member - Trinity Reformed Church - RPCNA

"To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the Church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism" (The Reformation in England (London, 1962), Vol. 1, p. 98)

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I would not go for variety, but for consistency. That is what we do.

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Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Would it be unwise to use a white wine?

But seriously my home church usually purchase a red wine from a local winery.

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Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
Fairmount ARP Church

Student of Theology
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary
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Thanks Fred. I should have phrased my OP better. I meant what TYPE of wine do you use, Merlot, kosher wine, etc. We don't switch it up every week, but I am new to providing the wine (never had to think about it before), so I was inquiring as to what other churches use, and why (if there is a reason) you use that particular kind.

I agree, consistency is best, but first one has to have that "one" to stick with.

I am not in charge of the wine but if I were I would avoid a heavy red. Merlot is medium I think? I would go for a Pinot Noir. I like Kendall-Jackson but certainly there are some less expensive; and I suppose a church could buy in bulk for a discount?

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Chris Coldwell
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When heresy rises in an evangelical body, it is never frank and open. It always begins by skulking, and assuming a disguise. Its advocates, when together, boast of great improvements, and congratulate one another on having gone greatly beyond the ‘old dead orthodoxy,’ and on having left behind many of its antiquated errors: but when taxed with deviations from the received faith, they complain of the unreasonableness of their accusers, as they ‘differ from it only in words.’ This has been the standing course of errorists ever since the apostolic age. Samuel Miller, Introductory essay, The Articles of the Synod of Dort (1841).

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Merlot is generally a medium (sometimes heavy) red. Pinot Noirs a generally pretty light. I'm sure we could get bulk for a discount, but honestly we don't go through enough to do that. The wine would probably spoil before we could get through it all! I don't think our basement is dark/cool enough to properly store that amount of wine for the long haul.

A somewhat off-topic question but exactly how many communion cups does a bottle of wine fill?

Part of the inspiration for this thread was a different thread on unlevened bread a few years ago where I was taken to task by Fred and Matthew. This really helped sharpen my understanding that the elements are "common" elements of the time. I think we've found a decent bread (a light sourdough) that IMHO fits the description of "common." In that light, what would be a "common" wine be? Any old wine from the liquor store?

Around 100

You should serve a red wine with a leavened dark bread like rye or pumpernickel, for unleavened bread, white breads or crackers you can serve a white. If you will be multiplying loaves and fishes for 3 to 5 thousand people then a fruity white is good for off setting the fish.

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Bob Vigneault (Bawb Vēēn-yo)
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Thanks Bob, I knew I could count on you!

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Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
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I'd find the least expensive.

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Ivan Schoen, Pastor
Maranatha Baptist Church
Poplar Grove, Illinois USA
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"Two buck Chuck" from Trader Joes! (Merlot)

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I have found that any sort of Concord wine to be good. I think these might even be made just for that purpose. There are a lot of wineries in Missouri and some of them are really good but probably only available here locally. I find myself drinking them at home...is this sacrilegious?

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Erick Bohndorf PCA, KS
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Not sacrilegious at all. But check the bottle. A lot of the kosher Concords have added sugar, which moves them into the realm of soft drink, in my view.

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R.Vic Bottomly
Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Tacoma, WA

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I have found only one by Stone Hill Winery ( a local winery) that does not contain added sugar and it has a phenomenal, and clean, taste but it has been hard to find any others that do not have added sugar.

This stuff says it will keep for up to a year after opened!

Jeff,
We use Mogen David's Concord Grape. It's sweeter than most wines but seems to be accepted by everybody in our church. We tried a Merlot once and got a number of complaints that it was too strong, so we went back to the Concord grape. It's relatively cheap too!
Jim

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Jim
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Jeff,

As I said, once you pick a wine, stay with it. I would find a decent, moderately priced merlot (this is not a wine tasting!). You don't want it to be bad, but you also don't want people wondering about the bouquet, or palette, etc. They should be focusing on Christ, not the wine.

We use a moderate merlot at about $10-15 a bottle. I find Cabs too heavy, Pinot Noirs too light for communion.

We use Oliver Winery Soft Red - which is just a simple table wine, but quite good. Its a semi-sweet wine made from concord grapes, but no added sugar. Best of all it's very inexpensive, about $ 5.00 at Sam's Club. We always keep a few bottles on hand at home, it's a great little wine that pares well with fruit, cheese or just by itself when one gets the hankering for a glass of wine.

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Thomas Weddle
Member, Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church
Evansville, Indiana

Personally, I would like a port....

But we use Mogen David (wretched stuff!), and as the congregation seems happy with that wine, consistory is not about to fix something that ain't broken.

(and port would get kinda expensive)

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Bert Mulder
Elder of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Edmonton
Edmonton Alberta Canada