Religious uses

Wine is also used in religious ceremonies in many cultures and the wine trade is of historical importance for many regions. Libations often included wine, and the religious mysteries of Dionysus are usually thought to have used wine as an entheogen.

Judaism

Main article: Kosher wine

Wine is a very integral part of Jewish laws and traditions. In the Tabernacle and in the Temple in Jerusalem, the libation of wine was part of the sacrificial service. The Kiddush, a blessing prior to eating on the Sabbath and other holidays, is required to be said over wine. On Pesach (Passover) during the Seder, it is also required to drink four cups of wine.[10] In American Jewish practice, it is common to use a kosher wine made from Concord grapes, though the wine produced is not popular outside Jewish liturgical circles. It has become increasingly common to use higher-quality kosher wines (often grown and made in Israel) at the Passover table. Kosher laws regarding wine and other grape-derivitives are more extensive and restrictive than for any other food or drink, because only wine or grape juice can be used for sacramental purposes.

Christianity

The New Testament states that Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine (John 2:1-11), and the Old Testament states that the fermentation of grapes was known by Noah after the great flood described in Genesis. (Gen. 9:20-21). However, it is also believed by some that the word "wine" is used interchangeably to describe both fermented (Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:20, Proverbs 23:29-35) and unfermented grape juice (Isaiah 65:8, Hosea 4:11, Joel 1:5). This has led to some conflicts over the issue of the use of alcohol in the church. However, wine continues to remain an essential part of the Eucharistic rites in the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican denominations of Christianity. Much of the wine industry in the Americas was created by the Spanish conquistadors to provide sacramental wine, as the native grapes did not prove suitable to the purpose.

It was used in nearly all Protestant groups until Welch’s created commercial grape juice in 1869 by applying pasteurization to grapes to stop the natural fermentation process. The influence of the temperance movement and prohibition also convinced some of them to switch from wine to grape juice; there is an ongoing debate in many American Protestant denominations as to whether the Greek and Hebrew words for wine refer to alcoholic wine or grape juice, though outside such circles the terms are believed to refer to alcoholic wine and the debate is considered meaningless. Outside the United States, only a very few, extremely conservative evangelical groups follow American practice, and most, even those connected with American denominations, do use alcoholic wine. A few denominations, most notably the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, use water instead of grape juice or wine.

Islam

Islam forbids the use of alcohol. Iran used to have a thriving wine industry that disappeared after the Islamic revolution in 1979.