Wine Education – ageing wine on its lees

Often you hear winemakers talking about ageing wine on the lees, the yeasty deposit that falls to the bottom of the tank or barrel when the alcoholic fermentation has finished. But what is to be gained by leaving the wine on its lees?

The most obvious example of a wine aged on its lees that you may be familiar with is Muscadet de Sevre et Maine sur lie. The sur lie bit means ‘on the lees’ and refers to the fact that the wine has been aged on its lees for a period of time before bottling. When the yeast dies out, or self-destructs, various compounds are released into the wine over time. We call this ‘autolysis’ and it gives wines an added layer of complexity, mouthfeel, lightness or creaminess, sometimes even a nuttiness.

This is what happens in the production of sparkling wines made by the Traditional Method such as Crémant and Champagne. The wines are kept in the cellar for a certain period of time after the second fermentation has finished and it’s this that gives the wines their character. A wine that has been kept on its lees for a shorter period of time will be fresher and more citrussy while a wine that has had extended time on the lees will have more nutty, toasty and yeasty qualities. Sparkling wines typically spend between 9 month to 3 years on their lees but some prestige wines have much longer.

White wines that are aged in oak are also often left on their lees for a number of months with additional stirring of the lees to redistribute it among the wine. This is to give a richer, rounder mouthfeel to the wine which will also pick up notes from the wood itself.

The new village Muscadets in the Loire (the cru communaux) have extended lees ageing. Some of the wines spend around 6 years in underground tanks sitting patiently on their lees deposit but this time without stirring. Names to look out for are Le Pallet, Goulaine, Gorges and Chateau Thebaud. These wines are beautifully delicate but have a lovely complexity that comes from this extended ageing.