Sherry, technically a white wine, ranges from pale straw-yellow to a deep brown color. Port may be red or white and ranges from deep purple to ruby to pale tawny. White wines range from virtual colorlessness to pale yellow-green to deeper shades of yellow gold to amber. A distinct green tinge is common in young white wines. Red Wines vary in hue from deep purple to various shades of red to mahogany and amber.
Body refers to the substance of a wine.
One indication of a wine's body is its color - the deeper the color, the fuller the body. A wine's body is measured by swirling it around the glass and seeing how long it takes the wine to flow down the sides. Full-bodied wines are heavy and come down the sides of the glass in sheets. Light-bodied wines are not heavy and will not cling to the sides of the glass when swirled. The nose or smell of a wine describes the perfume it gives off in the form of esters.