Dan,
When you say “light-bodied”, do you mean low in alcohol?
When you say “full-bodied”, do you mean high in alcohol?
And there’s the rub. I’ve had plenty of lighter bodied wines that still hit 14%. Some additional “body” would have served them well.
There is no ABV limit for fortified wine. A wine is fortified wine when it is fortified, ie. some alcohol is added during or after the fermentation.
Fino Sherry is fortified wine and it is fortified to 15% ABV. Amarone is not fortified and it can go up to 16 or 17% ABV.
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In case you were asking related to excise taxes, the break point is at 16% ABV, with another at 21%.
Tariff classes are different (of course they are!).
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Sipping on a 2012 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Pinot Noir right now, and I would never call it light bodied, but it’s sure not full bodied. Find the middle way!
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Not primarily. I am talking about texture, glycerine, mouth-feel. Alcohol plays a role but IMO not a major one. I’d say that most of the Pinots I find full-bodied do tend to be relatively high in alcohol. But I’ve had some oddnomalies with light color and texture, but with 15+% of obtrusive alcohol.
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I’m with you here. Alcohol does add richness to the texture, contributing to the sense of the “body” of the wine, but it is definitely not the only one contributing factor nor perhaps even a major one. I’ve had lots of full-bodied wines with remarkably low levels of alcohol - and, conversely, relatively lithe and light-bodied wines with surprisingly high levels of alcohol.
I’d say marine sedimentary soils in Willamette have tendency to make a fuller bodied Pinot when compared to Volcanic soils. It’s probably more about structure and fruit characters, but I think marine sedimentary soil still lead to a bigger wine on average in my experience.
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Tough poll! I waited a day to see how definitions of light vs full would shake out, but they aren’t that clear. Nonetheless I went for light-bodied, because in general with younger Pinot Noir, I prefer the lighter bodied versions. IMHO, good older Grand Cru Burgundy seems to have a relative heft to it, even if the wine doesn’t bear any resemblance to Cabernets, Syrah etc.
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Flawed poll. Missing medium body. I could and did not vote.
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If I want full body I’ll go for a cab sav.
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Light-bodied.
Not so lengthy explanation:
Tastes great!
Less filling!
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I had one from 375 recently. Found it too ripe and ultimately disappointing. What was your thought on pleasure factor, David?
I liked it a lot, though it still needs more time. Isn’t that the constant story of Rhys. There was nothing at all overripe in the wine.
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I had a slightly different take on this - I don’t think that full-bodied necessarily means a high alcohol, over-oaked fruit bomb. I just thought something with darker fruits and a more masculine profile. At least that was my thought
Great post Otto.
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What does a more masculine profile mean?
The wine smells like AXE body spray. 
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Light bodied= Marsannay, Mercurey, and owns as much Poulsard as Pinot Noir
Medium Bodied=ranges between good whole cluster Burgundy producers (CdB and Dom. de l’Arlot) to restrained Oregon and CA producers (Vincent, Kelley Fox, buys the regular Domaine Drouhin over the Louise).
Full bodied: favorite wines are the La-La’s from Guigal, buys PN that remind them of those wines.
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I don’t disagree with much of that, other than the use of oak as a partial synonym for full bodied, even if partly in jest.