Have you ever heard of the term lees when it comes to wine? What about seeing the French term ‘sur lie’ on a bottle of wine? There are plenty of weird wine terms out there and it can be so hard to know what they actually mean. Lees is one of those terms that is confusing when you don’t know what it means. But what are wine lees?
In this Wine Terms Explained article, we’ll unpack exactly what lees is, how it impacts the flavour of the wine and where to find it. You can use this knowledge to impress your local wine snob, or hey, just use it to choose the wine that you know you’ll enjoy drinking! The power will be in your hands. So let’s dive into this weird wine term.
What are wine lees?
Ok, I don’t mean to freak you out, but wine lees are a little bit gross. Lees are basically dead yeast cells. I know, it sounds weird, but stay with me. All wines are made by yeast converting sugar in the grapes into alcohol. Once the yeast has eaten all the sugar in the grapes, it dies. Such a noble thing the yeast in our wine – making magic for us and dying a heroic death. These yeast cells break down in a process called autolysis and fall to the bottom of the vat of wine along with other grape matter and are then filtered out.
There are actually two types of lees. The first, funnily enough, is called gross lees. This is the large lees that is usually removed after primary fermentation (in a process called ‘racking’). You know, because it’s gross and no one wants it in their wine. But the second type fine lees occurs as dead yeast cells gradually settle during fermentation and have a silkier consistency. These fine lees are used in the ageing process to add beneficial textures and flavours. This is where the French term ‘sur lies’ comes from which means ‘ageing on lees’.
Why is it used?
So now that we know what wine lees are, why are they important? Wine lees might seem like something you don’t want in your wine, but it actually creates many of the flavours and textures we love in wine!
The compounds created by wine lees are sensed by our palates as weight and body in the wine. This means wines that are aged on lees are often described as creamy, rich, full-bodied with great depth and complexity. This of course depends on how long the wine has been aged on lees for – this can occur for as little as three months to as long as several years!
But this also imparts flavour. It actually helps winemakers extract more flavours from this process by ageing the wine on lees. The longer the wine ages, the stronger the flavours. This works in reverse too – if the winemaker doesn’t want the flavour of lees they will ensure they remove the fine lees from the wine.
What flavours should you expect?
Wine lees create a textural creaminess and add body to the wine, but they also add aroma and flavours depending on how long they are aged for. These flavours are usually that kind of yeasty notes you’d expect from a loaf of bread – those funky, wheaty notes. But it can also present as nuttiness too.
The process can also create some specific flavours in different types of wines:
- Sparkling Wines: Sparkling wine made using the traditional method (learn more about that here) are usually aged for extended periods on lees and get more flavours of toast, cheese, nuts and buttermilk
- White Wines: White wines that are aged on lees are usually aged in oak barrels and as a result get additional flavours from the wood. Expect notes of caramel, smoke, spice and vanilla
Where you’ll find wines aged on lees
So where will you find these flavours? Well, all wines have some form of contact in their primary fermentation. But most red wines don’t actually need anything additional and so ageing on lees tends to be more common with white wines and sparkling wine. White wines can benefit from this process to enrich flavours and soften tannins.
In terms of where you’re most likely to find wines aged on lees, it is quite common in these wines:
- Champagne
- Vintage Champagne and Sparkling Wine
- Chardonnay particularly when oaked
- Muscadet
It is also used sometimes in Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris but to a lesser extent. As a general rule, fruity white wines do not get aged on lees and winemakers actively avoid this to retain the fruitiness and crispness in the wine.
In summary: What are wine lees?
So what are wine lees? Whether you love them or hate them, I hope this guide has helped you to understand what this process does in wine. Now you know what flavours to expect, and you can seek out those wines (or avoid them). Ageing on lees is a fantastic way to add texture, body and flavour to wine. So let’s give thanks to those small and mighty dead yeast cells that make it happen!