Clairette de Die

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

is a natural sparkling white wine from the Rhône Valley region in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is made from the

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

(75% minimum) and Clairette (25% maximum) grape varieties.Official web site: Winemaking
Retrieved 13 October 2009 It is characterized by its peach and apricot flavours and rose and honeysuckle aromas, and is usually drunk young at a maximum of two years, and served chilled at a temperature of 6°C to 8°C. Crémant de Die from the same area and same producers is a prestige dry, natural sparkling wine of apple and green fruit flavours and fragrance and is vinified by the

traditional method The traditional method is the process used in the Champagne region of France to produce Champagne. It is also the method used in various French regions to produce sparkling wines (not called “Champagne”), in Spain to produce Cava, in Portu ...

of a first fermentation in the vat followed by a second fermentation in the bottle. Originally produced from 100% Clairette,

Aligoté Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines, especially in the Burgundy region of France where it was first recorded in the 18th century.winepros.com.au. Since it is tolerant to cold, this variety is also cultivated in Eastern Euro ...

and

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

are now included. It is usually drunk as an aperitif but it can equally accompany a meal. At 7% or 8 % ABV, it contains less alcohol then most

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

Location, soil and history

East of the town of Valence, the vineyards of Die in the French department of the

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

on the border area between the northern and southern sub-regions of the

Côtes du Rhône AOC Côtes du Rhône is a wine-growing ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) for the Rhône wine region of France, which may be used throughout the region, also in those areas which are covered by other AOCs. In a limited part of the region, ...

area, in the

Rhône wine The Rhône wine region in Southern France is situated in the Rhône valley and produces numerous wines under various ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations. The region's major appellation in production volume is Côtes du Rhôn ...

region, at altitudes of up to 700 metres are among the highest in France. The chalky argilliferous soil has the feature of being able to retain enough of its rainwater to maintain a constant supply to the vines during the long dry summers. Although the Die region stands isolated in an area of otherwise very little wine production between the northern and southern wine producing parts of the Rhône valley, the making of Clairette de Die can be traced back over two thousand years. In 1971, the method of production of Clairette de Die wine was officially recognised as the "ancestral ''Dioise'' process" in 1971. Clairette received its first distinction, the AO (''appellation d'origine'') in 1910, and the AOC was established in 1942.

Local lore

According to one vineyard that operates a private museum in Le Diois France, the process was found accidentally by a Gallic shepherd. The shepherd was using the cool waters of La Drôme river to chill a bottle of local wine. The bottle was forgotten and left in the cold water over the Winter. Upon finding it in the Spring, the wine was found to be carbonated or in French ''pétillant'', a word that roughly means "effervescent" or "sparkling". Subsequent to the original discovery, Gallic tribes left jars of the wine in rivers over the winter and then recovered them in the spring. The first documented description of the wine came from Roman author

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

Other wines from the Die region

Coteaux de Die - A still (non sparkling) dry white wine produced from 100% clairette that was accorded an AOC in 1993. The low annual production is about 144 hectolitres. Characterised by green tints, it is usually drunk chilled and can accompany seafood. Châtillon-en-Diois - A still (non sparkling) wine available in three colours that was accorded an AOC in 1975. The red and rosé are produced from

gamay Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th centu ...

, pinot noir and syrah and are produced only from the vineyards around the village of the same name while the white wine is produced by thirteen communes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clairette De Die Aoc Rhône wine AOCs Sparkling wines 1940s establishments in France

Location, soil and history

Local lore

Other wines from the Die region

See also

References