Lees brandy was created as a way to capture the residual alcohol remaining in the lees after fermenting wine. Most pre-industrial societies developed culinary practices to maximize the utility of their food resources. Practices such as using pork intestines as sausage casings or making kavas, a fermented drink from old bread, all come from a tradition that lived with the real threat of food scarcity. They'd create new foods and drinks so as to not waste any of the time, effort, or calories available in leftover food sources. Over time, many wine styles developed flavor preferences to separate the lees (dead yeast, and other solids) from the wine after fermentation. A resourceful person realized that the cloudy liquid left at the bottom of the fermentation vessel still contained some amount of alcohol, and decided to distill it and collect the spirit from the lees.
Lees brandy has no specific geographic designation so it can be made anywhere in the world.
Lees brandy is unique in that it is the distillate of the residual alcohol and yeast cells that are separated out during the winemaking process. Lees brandy can be difficult to make because the yeast can easily be burned during the distillation process and impart unpleasant flavors to the spirit. Lees brandy can be made from the lees of any fruit fermentation. If the lees come from a fruit other than grape, the US government requires the name of the fruit to be included on the label (eg. cherry lees brandy).
The residual solids in wine making that can consist of dead yeast, fruit skins, pulp, tartrates and or stems. A number of white wine making traditions include the fine lees (yeast cells) during aging to give the wine yeasty or bready flavors. Similarly, some cognacs are distilled with the fine lees to add complexity during maturation.
Crystallized tartaric acid that falls out of suspension when a wine has been stored for a while at a cool temperature.