The strange-seeming name Len de L’El goes back to the old Occidental translation of the phrase “far from the eye,” which, however, did not mean the human eye. Rather, the shoots become so long that the grape ripens far away from the shoot's starting point, the eye. The variety is widespread in southwest France and is one of the main grape varieties in the Gaillac region. For dry wines, it is blended with other varieties, such as Mauzac, also common in southwest France, or even Sauvignon Blanc. The thin berry skin also allows the noble mold Botrytis cinerea to infest, so that good noble sweet wines can also be made from the Land de L'El, in this case usually pure varietals. The thin shell also makes the variety susceptible to rot and mite infestation. With high yields, it suffers from a potassium deficiency, which leads to drying out and browning of the leaves. The Len de L’El is not found outside of its ancestral regions in southwestern France.
This grape variety is also known by the name of:
Cavaille, Endelel, Cavailles, Cavalié, Cavalier, Cavaillèes, Kavale, Kavaler, Len del el, Lenc de LEl, Lenc de l'El, Lendelel, Lendellet, Loin de IOeil, Len de l'Elh, Len de LElh
