Your Drink Choices Today

To honor the great St. Benedict and the Benedictines, here are some suggestions.

Liqueurs

Ettal Abbey in Bavaria makes an Ettale Klosterliqueur which comes from distilled herbs aged in oak barrels.

Roi Rene Rouge cherry liqueur is made by Combier Liqueurs following a recipe from the Benedictine Abbey of Saumur, France.

Benedictine nuns at Abbey St. Hildegard produce several herbal liqueurs and fruit bandies.

The undisputed king of Benedictine liqueurs is Benedictine first distilled by Dom Bernardo Vincelli in 1510 from an elixir of 27 herbs at the Benedictine Monastery in Fecamp, France.   The recipes’ was lost when the monastery was destroyed during the French Revolution, but a wine merchant named Le Grand claimed to discovered an old recipe book that had the secret recipe.   At least that was his story, but many suspect he invented his own elixir.

Benedictine hearkens to an era when monks made herbal liqueurs for medicinal purposes.

Cocktails

            A B&B is an equal mixture of Benedictine and brandy.  It was very popular in the 1930s.   Today, B&B outsells Benedictine by 9 to 1. 

Beers

            Weltenburger Monastery in Germany claims to be the oldest brewer in the world brewing beer since 1050.

            Affligem Abbey in Belgium founded in 1074 by six nights who renounced war makes several widely available beers.

            Maredsous beer is another outstanding Benedictine classic from the Maredsous Abbey in Belgium.

            The monks of Ettal produce Benediktiner Weissbier following an original recipe.

            Trappist Abbey of St. Benedict make the famous Achel beer.

            In the USA, the Abbey of Christ in New Mexico operate the Abbey Beverage Company which produces a Monk’s Ale, Monk’ Dubbel, Monks’ Tripel, and Monks With.  Their motto is “Brewed with care and prayer.

            The Benedictine monastery of St. Joseph Abbey in St. Benedict, Louisiana produces an Abbey Ale.

            The newest is the Birra Nusia now being made by American Benedictine monks at the Monastery of San Benedetto which is located in St Benedict’s first monastery in Norcia, Italy.  They produce a light blond and a deep Belgian ale.   The beers are not yet available in the USA, so you have to travel to Norcia to enjoy the brew which is quickly growing with tourists.

Wine

           

            Corte an Benedetto is a winery near Verona, Italy with a number of hearty reds.

            The San Benedetto Winery in Tuscany is most famous for its DOCG Chiantis.

            Benedictines from St. Anian Abbey cultivated the first vineyards in the Languedoc wine region of France.   The same can be said of the Rhone wines in the Drome region of Provence.

            The Wachau wine region produces some of the finest Austrian wines which would not exist had not Benedictine monks cultivated the area after barbarians destroyed the earlier work of Roman vine growers.

            Looks for California wines from the AVA region of San Benito such as DE Rose Vineyards, Kenneth VOK Vineyards, and Leal Vineyards.

Champagne

            The most celebrated and most expensive wine with a Benedictine history is Dom Perignon champagne, but any champagne which ethnically comes for the Champagne region of France will do to salute this inventive Benedictine monk.

Sparkling Water

            There is the non-alcoholic bubbly of the Italian San Benedetto sparkling mineral water which can cleanse the palate between wine course or in any cocktail that calls for sparkling mineral water or club soda.