Wine 101: Body (Part 2)

Last week we took at look at understanding what is meant by a wine's body. You can try the milk experiment I mentioned inPart 1 to understand the concept better!

This week, let's take a look at the factors that influence the body of a wine

The wine ‘body’ represents the level of richness and intensity of the wine. Many factors can influence the body:

Grapes Varietal
Some grapes have naturally more concentration than others, like Shiraz compare to Pinot Noir

Provenance
The climate has a strong influence on the concentration of the wine. Grapes growing in warmer regions will get more sun, so containing more sugar, which in turn leads to a higher alcohol content and richer tannins. Red wines from Australia or Spain, for example, will definitely be fuller than wines coming from Germany

Winemaking methods
The winemaking methods will also influence the concentration of the wine, during the fermentation process and ageing methods. During fermentation, the longer the contact with the skin, the more tannins are extracted. Wines aged in oak barrels will be more concentrated than the ones aged in stainless steel.

Body is usually qualified as light, medium, or full. Light bodied wines will usually have a lighter color and fairly low alcohol level (12-13%), while full bodied wines will have a much darker, deeper color, and alcohol level of over 13,5% to 15%+. Light bodied red wines (Pinot Noir, Gamay), as they have lower tannins contents, are better enjoyed slightly chilled, around 15-16 degrees. Richer wines will be best enjoyed around 17-20 degrees.