Alexandra Speirs (asker) Mar 7, 2009:

wines etc. Thanks for the explanation, I must confess I am absolutely ignorant as regards wines. This coming from the Veneto where everybody pretends to be an expert... they've never managed to indoctrinate me, which in a certain sense is a pity as I'd have some idea of what they're talking about when I get one of these jobs to do!

simon tanner Mar 7, 2009:

extract/body extract and body are NOT the same thing. Extract means the solid components of a wine, including tannins, pigments, sugars etc. It is quite possible for a wine to be high in extract, but light bodied: "Many fine German wines are high in extract, and yet are low in alcohol and light bodied, especially low-yield Rieslings after dry summers" (Oxford Companion to Wine, p. 267)

Michael Korovkin Mar 7, 2009:

good concentration is body. You're probably right