Wine

== Religious significance ==
{{See also|Religion and alcohol|Wine in religious communities of the Middle East}}

=== Ancient religions ===
The use of wine in ancient [[Near Eastern]] and [[Ancient Egyptian]] religious ceremonies was common. [[Libation]]s often included wine, and the [[Dionysian Mysteries|religious mysteries]] of Dionysus used wine as a sacramental [[entheogen]] to induce a mind-altering state.

=== Judaism ===
{{Main|Kosher wine}}
{{rquote|right|Baruch atah Hashem (Ado-nai) Eloheinu melech ha-olam, boray p'ree hagafen – Praised be the Lord, our God, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.|The blessing over wine said before consuming the drink.}}
Wine is an integral part of [[halakha|Jewish laws and traditions]]. The ''[[Kiddush]]'' is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the [[Shabbat]]. On Pesach ([[Passover]]) during the Seder, it is a [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinic]] obligation of adults to drink four cups of wine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm |title=Pesach: Passover |last=Rich |first=Tracey R |work=Judaism 101 |access-date=24 April 2006 |archive-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202135231/http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[Tabernacle (Judaism)|Tabernacle]] and in the [[Temple in Jerusalem]], the libation of wine was part of the sacrificial service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |title=The Halakhah: An Encyclopaedia of the Law of Judaism |publisher=BRILL |year=2000 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=[https://archive.org/details/theologyofth_neus_2001_000_7080715/page/n137 82] |url=https://archive.org/details/theologyofth_neus_2001_000_7080715 |url-access=registration |isbn=978-90-04-11617-7}}</ref> Note that this does not mean that wine is a symbol of blood, a common misconception that contributes to the Christian beliefs of the [[blood libel]].
"It has been one of history's cruel ironies that the blood libel—accusations against Jews using the blood of murdered gentile children for the making of wine and matzot—became the false pretext for numerous [[pogrom]]s. And due to the danger, those who live in a place where blood libels occur are [[Halacha|halachically]] exempted from using red wine, lest it be seized as "evidence" against them."<ref name=reWineBloodlibel>{{cite web|last=Rutman |first=Rabbi Yisrael |title=Pesach: What We Eat and Why We Eat It |url=http://www.torah.org/features/holydays/passover/pesacheat.html |publisher=Project Genesis Inc. |access-date=14 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509103442/http://torah.org/features/holydays/passover/pesacheat.html |archive-date=9 May 2013 }}</ref>

=== Christianity ===
[[File:The Marriage at Cana - Decani.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jesus]] making wine from water in ''[[Marriage at Cana|The Marriage at Cana]]'', a 14th-century [[fresco]] from the [[Visoki Dečani monastery]]]]{{Main|Christian views on alcohol|Alcohol in the Bible}}In [[Christianity]], wine is used in a sacred rite called the [[Eucharist]], which originates in the [[Gospel]] account of the [[Last Supper]] ([[Gospel of Luke]] 22:19) describing [[Jesus]] sharing bread and wine with his disciples and commanding them to "do this in remembrance of me." Beliefs about the nature of the Eucharist vary among [[Christian denomination|denominations]] (see [[Eucharistic theologies contrasted]]).

While some Christians consider the use of wine from the grape as essential for the validity of the [[sacrament]], many Protestants also allow (or require) [[pasteurization|pasteurized]] grape juice as a substitute. Wine was used in Eucharistic rites by all Protestant groups until an alternative arose in the late 19th century. [[Methodism|Methodist]] [[dentist]] and [[prohibition]]ist [[Thomas Bramwell Welch]] applied new pasteurization techniques to stop the natural fermentation process of [[grape juice]]. Some Christians who were part of the growing [[temperance movement]] pressed for a switch from wine to grape juice, and the substitution spread quickly over much of the United States, as well as to other countries to a lesser degree.<ref>{{cite news |title=Almost Like Wine |date=3 September 1956 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824374,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118114338/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824374,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 November 2007 |work=[[Time Magazine]] |access-date=26 June 2008}}</ref> There remains an ongoing debate between some American [[Protestant]] denominations as to whether wine can and should be used for the Eucharist or allowed as an ordinary drink, with Catholics and some mainline Protestants allowing wine drinking in moderation, and some conservative Protestant groups opposing consumption of alcohol altogether.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

The earliest viticulture tradition in the Southwestern United States starts with [[sacramental wine]], beginning in the 1600s, with Christian friars and monks producing [[New Mexico wine]].<ref>{{cite book | last1=Birchell | first1=D. B. | last2=Steel | first2=G. | title=New Mexico Wine: An Enchanting History | publisher=American Palate | series=American Palate Series | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-60949-643-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5f0kvgAACAAJ | language=it | access-date=15 November 2019 }}</ref>

=== Islam ===
[[File:Mei.jpg|thumb|upright|All alcohol is prohibited under [[Sharia|Islamic law]], although there has been a long tradition of drinking wine in some Islamic areas, especially in [[Iran]].]]
{{Main|Islam and alcohol}}

Alcoholic drinks, including wine, are forbidden under most interpretations of [[Sharia|Islamic law]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Frances |last=Harrison |title=Alcohol fatwa sparks controversy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7342425.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=11 April 2008 |access-date=31 July 2010 |archive-date=12 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512181043/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7342425.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In many Muslim countries, possession or consumption of alcoholic drinks carry legal penalties. [[Iran]] had previously had [[Viticulture in Iran|a thriving wine industry]] that disappeared after the [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic Revolution]] in 1979.<ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Tait |title=End of the vine |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/12/worlddispatch.iran |work=The Guardian |date=12 October 2005 |access-date=26 June 2008 |location=London |archive-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829184544/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/12/worlddispatch.iran |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Greater Persia]], ''[[Persian wine|mey]]'' (Persian wine) was a central theme of [[poetry]] for more than a thousand years, long before the advent of Islam. Some [[Alevi]] sects – one of the two main branches of Islam in Turkey (the other being [[Sunni Islam]]) – use wine in their religious services.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Certain exceptions to the ban on alcohol apply. Alcohol derived from a source other than the grape (or its byproducts) and the date<ref>Sahih Muslim Book 043, Hadith Number 7186.</ref> is allowed in "very small quantities" (loosely defined as a quantity that does not cause intoxication) under the Sunni [[Hanafi]] ''madhab'', for specific purposes (such as medicines), where the goal is not intoxication. However, modern Hanafi scholars regard alcohol consumption as totally forbidden.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/perfalc.htm |title=Alcohol based Perfumes, Deodrants and Creams, Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam, Darul Iftaa, Leicester |publisher=Central-mosque.com |access-date=17 May 2014 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213042003/http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/perfalc.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>