Why Legs form, the real answer...

Why is your wine crying? Scientists say shock waves likely play a role
Alcohol content, the pour, and shape of the glass are also factors in wine tears.

I thought this was going to be a cutting edge article about biology…

What are the “legs” of a red wine clear?

Me too.

They probably aren’t, just that the path length (thickness of the legs on the glass) is so small that you don’t notice much if any coloration. Beer’s Law.

In the last couple of weeks, I heard someone say that the legs say more about the glass than the wine. I think that was in a tweet that Jamie Goode retweeted.

Nothing beats a great pair of legs.

Perhaps yeast has something to do with ‘legs’?

In any event, who cares?

That didn’t age well.

Emile Peynaud’s book simply stated that legs directly reflected alcohol content.

I recall that, too. The alcohol affects viscosity, right, and thus how thick the legs are?

My post above simply highlighted that the glass surface and any residue on the glass have a major impact.

Back in the old days, I was told “legs” were glycerol, which reflected the alcohol content of the wine.

And that was from a winemaker.

squats

That’s what Peynaud said. I think half right.

It is related to alcohol concentration, but because of the surface tension difference between the wine coating the sides of the glass and the wine at the meniscus, not because of viscosity. Alcohol evaporates faster than water, creating a higher surface tension in the liquid coating the side of the glass. That difference draws more wine upward via capillary action until there is enough for gravity to overcome the upward force.

Which is why you should discount a lot of what winemakers tell you Unless you are very confident they know what they’re talking about.

David G has it right, the legs are an indicator of alcohol. But other factors can enhance them, or make them more noticeable, such as higher sugar content, higher temperature, wine color, etc. A good way to see them in a lighter bodied, lighter color wine is to look at the shadows cast through the glass from an overhead light, particularly in a somewhat darkened room.

Is there any other way?

In dry wine?

Glycerol.

Greg, there’s not enough glycerol in any (good) wine to be noticeable in changing the viscosity. And it would lower the surface tension anyway, reducing the effect.

It would be interesting to know the effect of the glass. Water beads quite differently on different glasses, and I have to think that would affect wine legs as well.

Because the waiter spat in your glass. Because you’re cheap and elitist.