Wine on the Radio - December 13, 2004

Patrick Fegan Explains Body

Our resident non-snobby, non-snooty wine expert is Patrick W. Fegan.  We talked to him about the word body. 

“Body is  one of the basic wine tasting descriptions.  You see, some wines are thicker, more viscous tasting than others, which are lighter or even thinner tasting.  So body is the sense of fullness you can taste. 

A wine’s basic components contribute to the body, but usually the alcohol that makes the most difference.  More alcohol and your likely to hear the wine described as full bodied.   Wines like cabernet or syrah, or even chardonnay.

Down the spectrum are less alcohol and lighter bodied wines… cool climate wines, like sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio… or reds like chianti

The wine’s body indicates the amount of alcohol and therefore the power of the wine and understanding body helps us when pairing wine with foods to get the best match ups.”

Pop the cork™.

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