Is Vatican City Full of Winebibbers?

This made me laugh: A study by the California-based Wine Institute has reported that the Vatican City-State consumes more wine per capita than any other country in the world.

In fact, according to the Wine Institute, the Vatican’s wine consumption is nearly double that of Italy as a whole.

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BUT DIDN’T THEY KNOW ABOUT THIS?

Actually, there are several reasons why wine is used in Rome—apart from the fact that altar wine is consecrated each day in hundreds of churches across the city of Rome.

For example, Vatican City State has only about 800 residents—and 450 of those are Vatican employees.

Many (although not all) are Roman Catholic priests. There are no families with under-age children.

And Vatican City assesses almost no sales tax—so employees who work at the Vatican but who live in Rome and environs are likely to shop at the Vatican’s lone grocery store, where wine (and other products) will cost less than they would in an Italian market.