Saussignac is a wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 appellation (Appellation d'origine contrôlée

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

, AOC) in South West France

South West France (wine region)

South West France or in French Sud-Ouest, is a wine region in France covering several wine-producing areas situated respectively inland from, and south of, the wine region of Bordeaux...

. The Saussignac AOC is used exclusively for a sweet white dessert wine

Dessert wine

Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...

, similar to Monbazillac

Monbazillac AOC

Monbazillac is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for sweet white wine produced in the village of Monbazillac on the left bank of the Dordogne River just across from the town of Bergerac in South West France. The appellation covers almost of vineyards.The AOC of Monbazillac was first established...

 but a little drier. The grapes used are generally Sémillon

Sémillon

Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...

 grapes which have been affected by Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as botrytis bunch rot; in horticulture, it is usually called grey mould or gray mold.The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of...

. To qualify for the appellation, the grapes must be grown, and the wine produced, in the four communes of Saussignac

Saussignac

Saussignac is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is in the heart of Bergerac wine country and produces some of the best sweet white wines in France. Its pretty village centre has a Poste and Mairie....

, Razac-de-Saussignac

Razac-de-Saussignac

Razac-de-Saussignac is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

, Monestier

Monestier, Dordogne

Monestier is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:...

 and Gageac-Rouillac.
A fundamental difference between Saussignac and all other sweet or late-harvest wines is that Chaptalization

Chaptalization

Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...

, or the addition of sugar, is forbidden under the rules of the AOC.