Clairette de Die
Styles
Principal grape varieties
Accessory grape varieties
Terroir
Natural factors
- An area of 31 communes drained by the valleys of the Bez and the Drôme, with broad alluvial plains and combes (Die, Vercheny).
- Mediterranean climate tempered by mountain relief: hot, dry summers with cool nights, cold and snowy winters.
- Soils on the 'terres noires' of the Diois: fossiliferous marls of Secondary age, formed from great thicknesses of sediment deposited on the ancient sea floor.
Human factors
- Pliny the Elder (77 AD) already attests to two Voconce wines: a sweet (muscat) and a sparkling, direct ancestors of Clairette de Die méthode ancestrale. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
- After the phylloxera crisis, growers abandoned foreign and indigenous red varieties to return exclusively to clairette B and muscat à petits grains B, selected locally.
Product characteristics
- Méthode ancestrale: pale yellow appearance with green highlights, aromas of citrus, honey, flowers, and lychee; 7–9% abv, sweet to off-dry (~50 g/L residual sugar), fine bubbles.
- Clairette de Die brut (second fermentation in bottle) draws its distinctiveness from being made exclusively from the clairette B variety.
Terroir / wine link
- On 'terres noires' soils (schistose marls), muscat à petits grains contributes richness, structure, and aromatic intensity; on stony terraces, clairette, harvested at the limit of ripeness, delivers acidity and finesse.
Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.
Sources
- Product specification (BO Agri, PDF), JORF 11 décembre 2024
- Official INAO text (show_texte)
- INAO product entry
- Official trade body site — Inter Rhône