Tasting the Weight of a Wine
The weight of a wine is a measure of how much
alcohol and extraction the wine has. Generally speaking, a
full-bodied wine is at least 13% alcohol. If you have ever heard of
people saying that a wine has “legs”, this is generally a clue to
the weight of the wine. When you swirl a wine around in the glass,
it leaves a film of viscosity on the side of the glass. In a full
bodied wine, this viscosity comes together after a few seconds and
forms streaks or “legs” around the side of the glass.
The weight of a wine is simply the mouth feel
you get when you taste it – if it feels heavy in the mouth, this is
a good clue that the wine is full bodied. The test is this: does
your mouth feel overwhelmed by the intensity and power of the wine,
or is it more like a watery liquid? These are the two extremes of
weight of a wine – full bodied and light.
Fortified wines such as ports will feel very
full-bodied because they have added alcohol. A vintage port, for
example, will be a red wine of about 13% alcohol with another 4-5%
alcohol added by way of distilled spirit.
Exercise: Determining Alcohol and Weight of
Your Wines
Look at the alcohol level stated on the bottle
of the wines you drink. With Australian wines of more than 13.5%
alcohol, these should generally be considered “full bodied.”
Swirl the wine in your mouth and take note of
how it feels. Now go to your wine retailer and see if there are any
German wines there. Some of these are as low as 9% alcohol. Buy a
bottle and try the same exercise. Then try some Australian wines
from cooler areas such as the Mornington Peninsula or Tasmania with
alcohol levels around 12%. Try the same exercise with these wines.
Now try a port and as well as the mouthfeel, take a note of the
warmth you feel in the mouth from the higher (added) alcohol.
White wines will also show their weight with
this exercise. Some of the great Margaret River chardonnays are 14%
alcohol or even more. Sometimes significant alcohol can taste
sweet, although most of the great chardonnays are dry (ie: do not
contain detectable residual sugar in the wine). |
