Under the strong impetus provided by the monasteries, grape-growing assumed a central role in the economy of the Montalcino area. It is significant that the cultivation of grapevines was spread by monks, given the extraordinary symbolic force of grapes and wine in the Christian tradition. A metaphorical vehicle for many Gospel messages, wine reaches its symbolic apex in its consecration as the “Blood of Christ” during the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Furthermore, in the fourteenth century, Saint Catherine of Siena, taking up again the parable of the grapevine and the branches (John 15:2), spoke to the community saying that those who have received baptism from the hands of the ministers of the Holy Church are charged by God with working in the vineyard of the Church, together with the priests and all the clergy, “shepherds of our souls and workers in the vineyards of the souls that are ours” (Dial. XXIII).