Clairette de Die, pair of appellations for sparkling white wines centred on the town of die on the Drôme tributary east of the Rhône between Valence and Montélimar. According to pliny, wine has been made here since Roman times. Die’s gently fizzing wines may pre-date those of Champagne. Two very different sorts of sparkling Clairette de Die are made. The dry version, Clairette de Die Brut is made from clairette grapes by the transfer method (see sparkling winemaking) and has an alcoholic strength of between 11 and 12%. It differs from crémant de Die in that the latter must be made from whole grapes and made sparkling by the traditional method whereas Clairette de Die Brut may be separated from the lees of the second fermentation by filtration rather than disgorgement.
