HAYWARD, Calif., Dec. 4 A Roman Catholic cemetery in California may soon be producing its own sacramental wine.Robert Seelig, who is in charge of cemetery services for the diocese of Oakland, thinks that the combination of burials and grapevines at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward is a perfect fit. After all, wine plays a central part in the Catholic mass.Everything in our cemetery draws on signs and symbols of the Catholic faith, Seelig told the Fremont (Calif.) Argus. Seelig said that the diocese will hire a vintner to manufacture sacramental wine once the vines have matured. If the wine tastes good, the vineyard could produce table wines as well.The vines were planted during the summer on a 3-acre west-facing plot separated from the nearest graves by a driveway.I thought it was kind of odd, you know, but everybody's got their idea of what they want, Steve Koch, the consultant who supervised the planting, told the Argus. Copyright 2006 by UPI
