When describing wine, what does body mean?

Answer 1

a thin body wine is watery then there is medium and a full body is thick

Answer 2

Wine tasters often talk about the mouth feel or the body of a wine. Just what is the body of a wine and how do you describe it?

Really, when you talk about a wine's body or mouth feel, you are describing how thick or thin, how oily or watery it feels in your mouth. Your tongue and mouth can sense all sorts of textures. Think how a milkshake seems different than water, how a ginger ale seems different from cough syrup. All of these are liquids, but all have different bodies.

Most people have tasted milk and cream so this is a good comparison you can understand. When wine tasters say "light/thin body" they usually mean something very watery - like 1% or 2% milk. There's a bit of substance there - you're drinking wine, after all, not water - but it is very light.

The next level is "medium body". This is more like regular milk. There's a bit of substance there, but it's not really thick, it's just tangible.

Finally, for thick wines like port or sauternes, there is the "full body". This is more like cream, where there is really something swirling around in your mouth.

The best way to learn more about wine body is to TRY different wines! Get a light Riesling for the light wine, a buttery Chardonnay for the middle, and a nice port for the heavy. Try them all side by side and see how they differ!

Answer 3

BODY
The effect on the taster's palate usually experienced from a combination of alcohol, glycerin and sugar content. Often described as "full", "meaty" or "weighty".

Mouth quality evaluation:

An examination of the flavor, its presence, strength, balance, the aroma perceived in the nose directly from the mouth, the smoothness, tasting temperature and the sensation left in the mouth after wine has been drunk. The rating defines:

Taste by flavor examining the wine's content. The sugar (dry, off dry, sweet, very sweet), astringency (tannic, hard, closed ), acidity ( green, sharp, refreshing, balanced, flat), body (full body, medium/full, medium body, light, very light) and length (aftertaste - long, medium-long, short).

Answer 4

Hey I'm getting thirsty..just thinking of it....lol....The body of wine refers to the weight, the feel in your mouth...the concentration. If you took a sip of light white dry wine....and then compared it to a sip of dark heavy Burgundy wine....the light white would have a light weight to it in your mouth while the Burgundy would feel heavy and a very full feeling....and then the others would be in between. The roses would be light to middle....and so on....when you read a cookbook they often suggest wines that accompany certain foods so you have a good balance between the two....like light wines to eat with seafood...and richer heavier red wines to eat with beef...and so on...I hope this helps....happy testing! Mama Jazzy Geri

Answer 5

It is like milk and water, water doesn't have any body but milk does. Thats the best way I can describe it to you.

Answer 6

How heavy or how light it feels in your mouth. If you could chew it, what would it feel like?

(ie: a boiled potato or a mashed potaot? Still a potaot, but the difference is body.)

Answer 7

It is a description of how the tannins are interwoven with the fruit, so as to make it feel light, medium or heavy (full bodied) on the middle portion of your tongue

Answer 8

That's when people whine that they've put on too much weight... LOL

Answer 9

the perceived "weight" of how it tastes in your mouth

Answer 10

http://www.sbwines.com/usenet_winefaq/describingwine.html