The term "body" describes the taste of a wine, which is often categorized as full, medium or light? However, the term "body" is not well understood by beginner wine drinkers, so let's take a closer look at body today.

Body is a wine term that refers to the texture of the wine on the tongue. Generally speaking, the heavier the texture, the fuller the body, and vice versa. However, body is not a separate concept, but rather an overall impression of the wine. Many factors in a wine affect its body, such as alcohol, tannins, residual sugar, soluble flavor substances and acidity. Each wine has a different composition of ingredients and naturally has a different lightness of body.

We can compare the body of different wines with the taste brought by other beverages. For example, by and large, full-bodied wines are like the texture of milk on the tongue, light-bodied wines are like the texture of pure water, and medium-bodied wines are somewhere in between.

To give a more graphic example, full-bodied wines are like hot women, which can give people a strong sensory impact, thus leaving a deep impression; medium-bodied wines are like well-built women, which are rich in flavor and do not appear bland and uninteresting, which can be said to be the popular lover in the eyes of the men; light-bodied wines are like slim women, which give people a kind of weak and thin feeling. The light-bodied wines are like slim women, giving people a sense of weakness and thinness, but also have an unparalleled softness and beauty.

How do the components of a wine affect its body?

1. Alcohol

For most wines, alcohol is the most critical component affecting body. Alcohol is more viscous than water and gives a heavier texture than water, so the higher the alcohol, the heavier the taste and the fuller the body. In general, a wine with an alcohol content higher than 13.5% should be full-bodied.

2. Residual Sugar

Generally speaking, the residual sugar in a wine will increase its body, so the higher the sugar, the heavier the body.

3. Tannins

The higher the tannin content of a wine, the heavier the wine will be; conversely, a wine with a lower tannin content may be slimmer and lighter.

4. Acidity

Acidity is a special ingredient. Generally speaking, the higher the acidity, the lighter the wine. However, there are exceptions to this rule, and sometimes the sweeter a wine is, the higher the acidity, so you have to judge the body based on the other components.

5. Soluble flavors

Soluble flavors also add body, but glycerin has a very limited effect on body.

It should be noted that it is very easy to judge the body of a low alcohol dry wine, which is generally light. However, the same cannot be said for a sweet, low alcohol wine. Asti, for example, is a very light-bodied sweet wine due to its low alcohol content. So sometimes it's not so easy to judge the body of a wine, but it also depends on which component of the wine has the greatest impact on the taste.

Additionally, the body of red and white wines cannot be compared. However, full-bodied red wines are more full-bodied than full-bodied white wines, probably due to the extra tannins in red wines and the fact that white wines are generally more acidic than red wines.

External factors affecting the body of wine

1, grape varieties

The grape varieties themselves have a great impact on the body of wine, because different grapes have different flavor content, some grapes accumulate more sugar when they are ripe, and wines made from varieties with thicker skins usually have more dry leachate, which makes the wine heavier accordingly.

Red grape varieties that have the potential to produce full-bodied wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz and Malbec; white grape varieties include Chardonnay, Semillon and Viognier etc.

Red grape varieties with the potential to produce medium-bodied wines include Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel; white grape varieties include Chenin Blanc and Trebbiano. .

Red grape varieties with the potential to produce light-bodied wines include Pinot Noir and Gamay; white grape varieties include Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Grigio.

In fact, the line between different wine bodies is blurred, and there is no absolute dividing line between full-bodied and medium-bodied wines. Although Riesling is generally considered to be light-bodied, under certain conditions (e.g., infection by noble rot), it can produce full-bodied wines. In addition, although most Chardonnay is heavy, not all Chardonnay is full-bodied, with the exception of unoaked Chardonnay from Chablis.

2, appellation climate

Overall, the warmer climate appellations produce grapes with higher ripeness (and therefore higher sugar content) and lower acidity, which produces wines with higher alcohol content, and therefore relatively fuller-bodied wines. Conversely, wines from cooler climates have higher acidity and lower alcohol, and are therefore lighter in body.

3. Vinification

Whether a wine undergoes malolactic fermentation, barrel fermentation or aging, and aging in barrels and on lees all have an impact on the body of a wine, and generally speaking, wines that undergo these steps are heavier. This is because malolactic fermentation reduces the acidity of the wine and produces some texture-enhancing flavors, while wines that have been aged in barrels or on mash attract other flavors from the barrels or mash, which in turn gives the wine a fuller body.

It's important to note that some wines made using special methods may have a different body. Examples include noble-rot wines, ice wines, and air-dried wines.

Full-bodied = good wine?

Body is a reflection of many substances, so some people always think that full-bodied wine equals good wine. In fact, the quality of the wine has little to do with the body of the wine, but the full-bodied wine is more impressive. In his book The Oxford Companion to Wine, Jancis Robinson, the famous Master of Wine, clearly states that "body has nothing to do with the quality of wine." As an example, a number of fine dry Rieslings from Mosel, Germany, are also lighter in body. So when judging quality, we have to consider not how many of these components in a wine affect the body, but whether they are in balance with each other.