French term meaning ‘on the lees’, customarily applied to white wines whose principal deviation from everyday white winemaking techniques was some form of lees contact. The term has been used most commonly for the French dry white muscadet to differentiate those wines which remained on their lees after fermentation, usually in tank, in an effort to increase flavour and texture. The practice, and term, has since spread south to the languedoc and even outside France and has proved a useful way of adding flavour and value to the produce of relatively neutral grape varieties.
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