Term
Body
BOD-ee
Weight in the mouth
The impression of fullness — light like skim milk, full like cream — driven by alcohol, extract, sugar, and phenolics, not by quality.
A Mosel Kabinett is light. A Barossa Shiraz is full. Neither fact tells you which is better. Body should match the table: light wines get lost under a stew; full wines flatten a salad.
Alcohol is the main contributor. Residual sugar and glycerol add more. Oak extract and tannin add a different kind of weight. Watery is a fault; light is not.
When a somm says 'medium-bodied,' they are placing the wine on that scale, not damning it with faint praise.
