What Does "Nice Legs" Mean When Talking About Wine

I think one of the most confusing terms in the world of wine probably has to be legs. People always you know say like, "oh like this wine's got really good legs. I always joke and say, "well i've got nice legs, but it says nothing about my character."

So let me break it down for you. Legs has to do with the viscosity of the wine, or how rich it is. Actually, let's go back a little bit further. It has to do with how much sugar was in the juice before it turned into wine. This is just the natural sugars found in fresh grape juice. More sugar will turn into more alcohol, so a higher alcohol wine will have heavier legs.

It doesn't mean that the wine is better or worse, but you can see if you just take your glass and roll it or if you swirl it. You see how slowly those tears are forming and falling down the side of the glass. You can tell a lot about how much alcohol is in the wine. Slower forming, thicker means higher alcohol. If it's sheeting off the glass like water it just means that it's low alcohol. It's not good or bad, but it sounds kind of good when you're talking about your wine, "nice legs!"

Learn Wine featuring Master Sommelier Emily Wines