Mountain vineyards
Recognised in 1942, Clairette de Die occupies the Drôme valley around Die, east of the Rhône valley, in an already pre-Alpine landscape. Altitudes often above three hundred metres and cold nights shape wines of great freshness.
The local sparkling-wine tradition is very old: Pliny the Elder already mentioned a naturally sparkling sweet wine among the Voconces, the region's Gallic people.
The ancestral method
This is the appellation's distinctive feature. The wine is bottled before fermentation finishes, then completes it slowly in the cold: the carbon dioxide produced is trapped and residual sugar comes only from the grapes. No tirage liqueur or yeast is added, unlike the traditional Champagne method.
The result has around 7–9% alcohol, considerable natural sugar and fine bubbles. A separate appellation, Crémant de Die, also uses the traditional method: it must blend Clairette, Aligoté and Muscat within the same geographical area.
Grapes in the glass
Ancestral-method Clairette de Die smells of fresh grapes, elderflower, white peach and citrus. It is sweet without heaviness, light in alcohol and drunk well chilled, between 6 and 8°C.
Enjoy as an aperitif, with a fruit tart or a lightly sweetened dessert. It is not for cellaring: a youthful wine to drink within two years of harvest.