Cathedral launches own wine brand

The wine has been welcomed by many church-goers in the community

A cathedral in Lancashire has launched its own brand of wine in a bid to raise more than £3m for community projects.

Despite having a graveyard instead of a vineyard, Blackburn Cathedral Appeal is churning out bottles of merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

Working alongside local wine merchant Ribblesdale Wines in Clitheroe, the church has four specially selected wines with their own labels.

The Cathedral is charging £72 for a case of 12 bottles.

"We hope to bring out the rose wine next Spring," appeal director Rupert Swarbrick said.

He said the aim was to "market the wine to many different kinds of people".

"The Friends of Blackburn Cathedral had a dinner the other day and we brought our wine round, it went down well, in fact they might have drunk a little bit more than usual.

"We are hoping to keep this going throughout the year, it has had a good response already," added Mr Swarbrick.

The money raised will go towards the general upkeep of the cathedral, community projects, and to support several music programmes.