The Body of Wine: What is it?
When you are first starting out in the wine-tasting world, you come face to face with the intensity and complexity of certain wines as you taste them. One of the things that your palate will start to recognize is the thickness and texture of the wine in your mouth. We identify this mouthfeel as the body of the wine. It can be difficult to explain a wine’s body because it is not as obvious as sweetness or acidity.
The body of wine can be described in three ways:
When the body of a wine is light, think of drinking a glass of water. It’s thin, goes down easily, and is smooth.
When the body of a wine is medium, think of drinking a glass of skim milk. The consistency is thicker, but not too thick, and sticks around in your mouth a little longer.
Lastly, when the body of a wine is full, think of drinking a glass of whole milk. This would be the thickest, with the longest-lasting finish.
Light-bodied wines
Light-bodied wines are light and delicate on your palate making them popular during the summer because they are crisp and refreshing.
Medium-bodied wines
These wines are known for being “in-between” because there is no true cut off for where they actually sit on the tasting spectrum. Sometimes they can be more light-to-medium bodied, or they can be medium-to-full. These wines are usually the best to pair with food because they have the perfect balance of tannins and acidity.
Full-bodied wines
These robust and powerful natured wines are bold. These would include deep red wines and ports, and these characteristics come from their skins which are packed with tannins. If you taste a full-bodied wine, you’ll notice it leaves a coated finish in your mouth.
What gives a wine its body?
Tannins, sugar, and acids all contribute and determine the overall body of a wine. Something that can help you determine the body of a wine is its alcohol level. Alcohol adds to the intensity and thickness of a wine. The more alcohol that wine has, the heavier it becomes and the bigger mouthfeel it offers. The grape itself determines the body, starting in the skins. Thick-skinned grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon contain a lot more extract than Pinot Noir, which is thin-skinned. Production methods also impact the weight of the wine as well, say if the wine was oaked. White wines tend to be much lighter than red wines, but there can be fuller-bodied white wines – like buttercream chardonnay.
Can I make my own?
Musto Wine Grape Company is here to help you make the wine of your dreams! The Spring Chilean winemaking season starts in late April, early May. Secure your winemaking grapes or juices and give us a call at (877) 812-1137 to speak with one of our Musto Crush Crew members. We can get you set up with everything you need and provide customer support along the way to ensure your success!
Wine Grape Spotlight – Malbec
Malbec is a grape variety with a deep, inky color, producing dry red wines that boast robust tannins and a long, smooth finish.
Where is Malbec from?
Malbec was almost exclusively grown in France, where it played a primary role as one of the main Bordeaux grapes. The climate and pests in France did not allow for Malbec to perform to its utmost potential. Struggling to thrive, growers saw it as weak, finicky, and susceptible to disease as well as rot. It is mainly associated with Argentina and Chile now because it thrives there. It took well to the climate, excelling in the high elevation and heat, making it one of the most widely planted grapes. In the United States, you can find the majority of wine grape plantings in California, yet Malbec only makes up for 0.5% of those plantings.
Malbec Characteristics
This grape can yield a wide range of fruit aromas that vary widely depending on the climate they are grown in. Cooler climates like France and Washington state yield black cherry, raspberry, and plum aromas. For warmer climates like Chile, you’ll get more blackberry, blueberry, plum, and black cherry. They’re juicy and jammy, with notes of vanilla, tobacco, dark chocolate, and oak. They have medium acid and moderate levels of tannins. Chilean Malbec’s boast with red fruit flavors like cherry, raspberry and have floral and slight earthy notes.
Can I make my own?
Musto Wine Grape Company is here to help you make the wine of your dreams! The Spring Chilean winemaking season starts in late April, early May. Secure your Malbec and give us a call at (877) 812-1137 to speak with one of our Musto Crush Crew members. We can get you set up with everything you need and provide customer support along the way to ensure your success!
Sacrificial tannins 101
Have you heard about sacrificial tannins? If not, read on!
Why we love tannins
As wine drinkers, we love tannins because they help to give structure and mouth feel to a wine. Without it, wines would taste flabby and dull.
As wine makers, we love tannins because they aid in color stabilization, prevent and slow the process of oxidation, and give structure to the wine. Sacrificial tannins can help with this.
To understand tannin, imagine the sensation of drinking over-steeped black tea.
Tell me more!
Tannins are already present in grapes through their seeds, skins, and stems. We add more tannin through oak aging as well as with oak or tannin alternatives. As fermentation begins, color compounds within the skins bind with proteins, which then drop out of the wine and settle onto the bottom. You can add tannins to white, rose, or red juice.
Tannins gets added as way to give these proteins within the juice extra tannins to bind on to, so that not everything is lost from the juice. This is the role of “sacrificial tannins,” or tannins that you as a a winemaker add in so that you don’t lose any from the grapes themselves.
How do I incorporate sacrificial tannins?
- Use oak chips or oak dust (preferably medium toast) at up to 3 oz per 5 gallons of wine
- FT Rouge for red wines. 5-25g/100 lb fruit. Add at first signs of alcoholic fermentation.
- FT Blanc for white or rose wines. 1-3g/100 lb fruit. Add after it’s been racked off of gross lees.
These can all be added directly to the juice at the onset of fermentation. Just sprinkle it into the juice and incorporate as much as possible, or add to red must right before the first punch down. It will settle to the bottom and can be racked off of at the end of fermentation.
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