Dumb evil villain is dumb. He should've just sponsored the church and bring their wine making into his business. Now he gets to be #1 and that church would have a better quality of life.
Legit the easiest and smartest thing for him to do
Find out how they make the wine and maybe even ask them to help start wine farms in other areas
Very contrived and downright stupid arc imo. Did the author wanna stall for time for some reason?