Appellation for sparkling wine in the middle section of the French wine-growing region Rhône. The Romans were already cultivating wine here at the turn of the century. This is attested to by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder (24-79 AD), who wrote in 77 in his work "Naturalis historia" that the wine from this region was the best naturally sweet wine in the empire. The vineyards cover about 1,300 hectares of vines. They are located in 31 communes east of Crest in the immediate vicinity of the eponymous town of Die on the Drôme tributary on the left bank or east of the Rhone River. Some of them reach as far as the Vercors mountain massif in the far west of the French Alps. The area is congruent with the AOC areas Coteaux de Die and Crémant de Die. 13 of these communes form the AOC Châtillon-en-Diois.
Serious sources on the internet are rare - and Wine lexicon from wein.plus is one such source. When researching for my articles, I regularly consult the wein.plus encyclopaedia. There I get reliable and detailed information.
Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi