Short answers, pulled from the story.
Paul the Apostle wrote that wine was used in the earliest celebrations of the Lord's Supper. This scripture establishes the biblical foundation for using sacramental wine in Christian worship.
The twentieth century brought significant changes especially after the Second Vatican Council. This council saw a return to more widespread sharing in the Eucharist under the forms of both bread and wine in the Latin Catholic Church.
Canon 924 of the present Code of Canon Law from 1983 states that the wine must be natural and made from grapes of the vine without corruption. The law requires pure grape wine for liturgical use in the Catholic Church.
Bernard John McQuaid bishop of Rochester founded this vineyard in 1872. It remains the oldest vineyard founded for sacramental wine still producing in the United States today.
An 1896 directive of the Congregation of the Inquisition allowed adding spirits of wine to conserve weak wines during transportation. The quantity combined with natural fermentation could not exceed eighteen percent of the whole.