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BY SUZANNE HAUGH
Staff Writer
SOCIAL CIRCLE--The afternoon sun spreads its warmth across 15 acres of
grapevines as John Fuchs, winegrower and owner of Fox Vineyards, explains the
cycle of growth.
Each plant, a weathered stalk of gray erupting from the soil, is fastened to
a metal cross bar. Its branches, stretching out like arms, grasp the catch
wires strung from bar to bar. The green leaves sprouting from these vines
testify to Easter and spring.
In August and September a portion of the fruit from these vines will be
picked and made into wine which will be used in the sacrifice of the Mass,
“bringing the product into perfection as it becomes food for
eternity,” says Fuchs, a parishioner at St. Augustine’s Church in
Covington.
Father Michael Redden, pastor of St. Augustine’s and of St. James
Mission in Madison, consecrates wine from Fox Vineyards, which was planted in
1984 and opened to the public in 1987.
Fuchs’ interest in wine growing grew from being a hobby he practiced in
his garage back in 1969 to a business he manages today with his son, Kenneth. A
modest-sized outfit run primarily by family members and one part-time employee,
the winery produces 10,000 gallons of wine a year or about 50,000 bottles.
Sales have grown each year, Fuchs says, and they’ve recently expanded
their sales room to accommodate tour groups of 60 people.
What has a close place to Fuchs’ heart is his involvement in making
sacramental wine. His start into this aspect of wine-making happened by chance.
A retired pilot, Fuchs remembers one Sunday morning as his family was preparing
to leave for Mass. The parish priest at the time pulled into their driveway in
need of wine to use for Mass. Someone had broken into the church the night
before and had stolen the sacramental wine. With only 15 minutes before Mass
was to begin and with no place open or able to sell wine, the priest hoped
Fuchs would have a bottle of wine on hand. The question for Fuchs was which
wine would be appropriate and worthy enough for the honor. He gave the priest a
bottle of wine that had won an award at a local competition.
“Throughout Mass, I could hardly control myself,” he recalls.
“To think, my humble efforts were to be elevated to the highest honor
possible by being transformed into the blood of Christ.”
Fuchs says his enthusiasm for the Eucharist has grown ever since this
experience.
“Because of the changes in my life since the day that my wine was first
accepted for Mass, I have to wonder, was it really a thief who took the altar
wine those many years ago or was it an angel?”
As a eucharistic minister at St. Augustine’s, Fuchs witnesses the
evolution of one portion of the eucharistic meal: growing the fruit, making the
wine, watching the consecration and then sharing the precious blood of Christ
with his church community.
A man who easily spouts sentence after sentence on the workings of his
vineyard, Fuchs becomes speechless when trying to describe the experience of
offering the cup of Christ’s blood to parishioners at Communion time.
“I can’t explain it,” Fuchs says, his eyes beginning to tear.
What he later can explain is how he sees the eucharistic meal. Using an
analogy inspired by Olympic competition, Fuchs says that as people approach the
altar “in a dignified manner, our hearts should be like the
sprinter’s.”
“Think of the Host as the baton on a relay team,” he says. In
accepting the Host, “we accept the ‘baton of life.’”
In an attempt to share his appreciation of the Eucharist with fellow
parishioners, Fuchs invites anyone interested to come to the vineyard to pick
the grapes and make the wine which will be used to make enough sacramental wine
for two years.
St. Augustine, a small parish of 200 families, consumes about one bottle of
wine per weekend. A mission of 60 families, St. James’ members consume
what are called splits, or half bottles of wine, to avoid having any excess
that would spoil since Fuchs does not use preservatives in his wine. To make
the sacramental wine, Fuchs creates a blend of cabernet sauvignon, De Chaunac
and seyval grapes.
The more Fuchs learns about wine, the more reason he sees for Christ having
chosen it to be part of the eucharistic meal.
“It’s the one fruit that’s complete,” he says. “It
has yeast, sugar, acid. It’s grown in bunches, yet each berry is complete
… Like the Eucharist, each drop is complete.”
Fuchs sometimes wonders how others perceive the preparation for the miracle
of the eucharistic meal.
“When the collection basket is being passed around during the
offertory, does anyone picture himself kneeling before the door at the Last
Supper, presenting his offering to the one preparing the upper room and begging
that his offering be accepted as was the bread and wine for the Last
Supper?”
Fuchs explains the delicate balance of rain that the vines need to have to
grow properly. He says he prays for rain because he doesn’t irrigate his
fields.
“But if we have a lot of rain, we could lose every one because they can
get a fungus,” he says. “There’s always a tradeoff.”
Fuchs remembers when the rain could not hamper Archbishop John F.
Donoghue’s celebration of Mass at the vineyard in 1997. For him, it
remains as one of the vineyard’s special moments.
Like that day, every week Fuchs is reminded and humbled by his contribution
to Mass.
“If the feelings in my heart could be felt by others they would surely
gain a closeness and understanding of the miracle of the precious blood and
wine-makers around the world would be standing in line hoping to have their
offering accepted for this greatest of honors.”
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