10/09/08 Terms Part 4

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. We are embarking on a series defining wine terms and giving you correct pronunciations for wines and grapes alike. Today we continue. My goal is to help listeners learn the definitions of terms used to describe wine and to pronounce some of the more interesting and sometimes literally foreign words. Today we begin with the term Body  I know - I beat you up about this one all of the time but it is so commonly used incorrectly that the other day I even found a website defining it wrong. Body and the references to light medium and full body wine are describing how the wine feels in your mouth. It is not describing the intensity of the flavor. I like the analogy of milk. Non-fat milk is kind of light and watery whereas whole milk is thicker and heavier felling and cream or half and half feel thick and leave an impression in your mouth even after you swallow it. That is body! Now body is a contributing factor to the term rich which used when describing a wine is referring to a full-bodied wine, which means it has a thicker texture, with depth and complexity in both the flavor and smell of the wine. It sounds as though rich basically means the wine has got it all goin' on. Join me next week as we continue to explore the definitions of the words used to describe wine. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at Vine to Wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.