tanks. The process of stirring the lees (bâtonnage) also became more commonplace. By stirring the lees, the dead yeast come into greater contact with the wood-based tannins and pigments that are usually extracted into the wine. The lees act as a sort of buffer between the wines and the oak elements, allowing the wine to maintain its color and not become too harsh and tannic. In the late 1990s, more Muscadet producers started extending the amount of time that the must spends in contact with the grape skins prior to fermentation. This extended maceration allowed the wine to leach more phenolic compounds from the skin which can add complexity to the wine. Muscadet wines are usually bottled in the spring or autumn following the vintage though they can be made in the vins de primeur style (like a Beaujolais nouveau) and be released as early as the third Thursday of November. At time of bottling some carbon dioxide may still be present in the wine, giving it a slight effervescence that can come across as a "prickly" sensation to the tongue. This effervescence is rarely seen to the degree of a semi-sparkling wine such as Lambrusco. Under French AOC regulations, the maximum alcohol content of a Muscadet must be no more than 12% (after chaptalization)-making it the only unfortified French wine to have a maximum alcohol content stipulation. Sur lie on the wine label Prior to the early 1990s, any producer of Muscadet wine could use the phrase sur lie on their wine labels regardless of the length of time and manner that it actually spent in contact with the lees. In 1994, French authorities designed regulations that limit the use of sur lie to only wines that comply with a set guideline. First, while the sub-appellations of Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire and Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu are permitted to use the term, any wine labeled with just the generic AOC Muscadet cannot. Second, the wine must spend at least a full winter in contact with the lees and not be bottled until after the third week of March following the harvest. Some wines are kept in contact longer, in order to produce a more full-bodied style, and not bottled till between mid-October to mid-November. Finally the wine must be bottled directly off its lees and not go through any racking or filtration process. Currently there is no