Term for the yeast residue after fermentation that remains in the wine after racking into another container and causes turbidity. These are relatively fine (small) yeast particles, some of which are still alive but no longer necessarily capable of fermentation, which slowly sink to the bottom. They have many positive properties, give the wine a fresh, lively appearance, can round off the mouthfeel and also have a reductive effect.
Many producers deliberately store white wines in particular on the fine lees for longer periods (lees storage). The coarse yeast residues remaining in the fermentation tank after the wine has been drawn off, which have already sunk to the bottom during fermentation, are referred to as lees or whole yeast. In contrast to fine yeast, these coarse components are usually undesirable from a sensory point of view after prolonged contact, as they can contain bitter substances and off-flavours. In order to remove them as completely as possible, they are often filtered before bottling.
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