Kamra (Wine)

Kamra (Iradi, from Syriac khamra, "wine") is the sacramental wine of the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church, used at the Qurbana and for the shared cup of the wedding crowning. It is a sweet dark red wine of about 14 percent alcohol, made by the archeparchy of Iyık Janyl at Kyzyl-Senir from the old local grape maduk. The bunches are left to shrivel on reed mats in the sun for about two weeks before pressing and are then fermented on their skins in buried clay jars (see Kömmö (Wine)).^[1]

The cellar supplies every Syro-Iradi parish. Before Easter it also sells kamra to the faithful in bottles sealed with clay, and a glass of it is part of the Easter breakfast after the vigil. Church usage keeps the Syriac word, while everyday wine is called sharap.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Cathedral Archives of Iyık Janyl (2014). The Vineyards of Kyzyl-Senir: A Chronicle. Iyık Janyl.
2. ^ Talas State University Press (2016). Leaven and Ember: Eucharistic Bread in the Syro-Iradi Tradition, pp. 15–49.