A wine’s body refers to its weight on the palate. It’s generally directly correlated to alcohol content. Lighter bodied wines are generally lower alcohol, and heavier wines are higher in alcohol.

Whites are generally light-to-medium bodied, except for some viogniers or oaked chardonnay, which will be heavier on the palate.

Reds can range from light (pinot noir) to full-bodied (cabernet sauvignon, syrah).

Sometimes you can think of weight as the difference between skim milk on the light end, and 2% on the full end.