Wine and monasteries: Benedictine monasteries in Europe

Abstract

ABSTRACT Food and drink play a key role in religion and often lie at the core of doctrines and dogmas, rituals and practices. Wine is not an exception. The relationship between wine and religion goes back in history. Wine culture was spread by Greeks and Romans trough all the Mediterranean countries. In Catholicisme, wine was (and still, is) used for liturgical purposes, as it is considered to become the blood of Christ during the Eucharist, becoming an important part of the liturgy. In the Middle Ages, in Europe, and thanks to pilgrimage routes like the ones to Santiago de Compostela, Rome or the Holy Land, monasteries spread throughout Europe, being the Benedictin one of the most important monastic order. Monasteries have also traditionally played an important role in the production of wine and oil, as both were used for rituals and religious rites. Still today in Europe, many monasteries continue to produce wine, becoming an important source of funding. Some of them have become attractions in wine tourism and several participate as visitor nodes on long-distance wine routes. This paper aims at exploring the actual connection between European Benedictine monasteries, wine and tourism. The main aim is to determine how many Benedectine monasteries still produce wine and to what extent they can create a strong proposal for developing wine tourism. The methodology used is based on a qualitative study. Only 18 out of 68 European Benedictine Monasteries produce alcoholic drinks, and only 5 of these produce wine. The 5 monasteries studied are placed in Italy (2), UK (1), Germany (1), and France (1). Data analyzed include aspects like the features of wine production and the services provided by each monastery regarding tourism. The tourist promotion, from both the monasteries and the region has been analyzed considering if monasteries are present in tourism promotion strategies. Results show that most of the monasteries analyzed have their own promotional tools however, there is not a clear strategy to promote them as an outstanding element in the regions or tourist destination.