Wine made from cemetery-grown grapes raises funds for church

HAYWARD, Calif. (KTVU) -- It's harvest time for grape growers, including at one unique vineyard that's planted in the East Bay.

Father Jayson Landeza walked through the vineyards of Catholic Church property in Hayward Tuesday morning, blessing the grapes before harvest.

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen," he said as he tossed Holy Water on the vines.

There's nothing unusual about the blessing of grapes, but it's not often you find wine grapes in a cemetery.

"I think we celebrate new life in Christ as we bury folks here and the new life is brought up symbolic of the grapes used in mass which is definitely part of our own ritual used in the Catholic Church," Father Landeza told KTVU.

Yes, the church is growing wine grapes in cemeteries.

Several years ago the Oakland Archdiocese started planting grapes at three East Bay cemeteries as landscaping on the perimeter, including at the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward.

Robert Seelig of Catholic Management Services helped lead the effort.

"In the diocese we've actually planted 16 acres in our various cemeteries with the idea that if the idea took off and it was fruitful then we would go ahead and plant additional vineyards."

The idea of making wine came after the church realized the landscaping effort created a lot of grapes, and there was no real plan of what to do with them.

Enter winemaker Shauna Rosenblum of Rock Wall Wine Company in Alameda.

"So he asked me if I'd be interested in making Sacramental wine. As a winemaker that's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I said absolutely."

Rosenblum soon learned the cemetery's Chardonnay grapes were much better than she expected.

"You know what? Shockingly, they're killer. No pun intended. I didn't mean to say that," she laughed.

The Archdiocese created a wine club with the proceeds going to support Catholic charities. After the grapes are harvested from the cemetery they're brought to an old airplane hangar at the former Alameda Naval Air Station where the wine making process begins.

Rock Wall is now making hundreds of cases a year for the Archdiocese under the label: Bishop's Vineyard.

Jim Ryan of Rock Wall says the reaction has been favorable.

"Everyone's very positive about it except for a couple of people. They have this vision maybe of the vine coming out of a headstone or something like that," he told KTVU.

The church says all of the vines are planted uphill from the grave sites.

Rock Wall says many customers are drawn to the wine, not just because of the quality.

"They had a very emotional response to having grapes that were grown in the cemetery where their family was buried," said Rosenblum.

In fact, the church is now seeing demand from people who want to move their final resting place. Plots located near the vineyard now cost more.

"We have people who want to be buried next to the vineyard, they want to have the opportunity to be near it, we actually have people who want to have a wedding here," said Seelig.

In the end, it's the Catholic charities that benefit the most. Ryan tells KTVU the wine effort is making a difference in many lives.

"There's about 500,000 Catholics in the Bay Area. So all's I ask is one bottle of wine and we should be good to go."

You can find out more about the cemetery wines at the Bishop Vineyard website.