Food & Occasion

In the Diois, Clairette de Die is traditionally served with dessert. According to the wine association, it accompanies the valley's celebrations, from family meals to village festivals. Because it's so low in alcohol, it also suits a long, leisurely afternoon at the table.

It pairs most easily with fresh fruit: peaches, apricots, strawberries, a fruit salad, or a fruit tart. The Muscat echoes the fruit's aromas, its sweetness matches the dessert's sugar, and the carbonation keeps the palate refreshed.

It also holds up surprisingly well against cheese. Picodon, the goat cheese from the Drôme and Ardèche regions, brings salt and spice, and the Muscat answers with sweetness. Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, a blue cheese from the edge of the Vercors, works similarly: where salt and sharpness run strong, a sweet sparkling wine can soften them.

Two sweets from the Drôme suit the same table: Pogne de Romans, a brioche flavored with orange blossom water from Romans-sur-Isère, and Nougat de Montélimar. Both are flavorful enough that the wine can hold its own without being overwhelmed.

The valley's dry wines—plain Clairette de Die and Crémant de Die—work well as an aperitif, with savory pastries, and light starters. Their fine carbonation cuts through fat and salt, which is why sparkling wine also pairs nicely with fried foods.

Visitors to Die usually encounter it only at the end of the meal: the bottle is opened with dessert, accompanying, according to the association, every celebration in the Diois.

It pairs easily with summer fare: melon, berries with fresh cheese, almond pastries. Hardly any recipe is needed: the wine is sweet enough that a simple piece of fruit is dessert enough.