Le Diois, French name for the area around the town of Die (pronounced ‘dee’) in the Drôme valley (Drôme department) of southeastern France. Le Diois is part of the French Alps and constitutes the watershed of the Drôme and its tributaries (Roanne, Meyrosse, etc.)

Geographically, the Diois covers the south of the Vercours massif and the north of the Provençal Drome of the Provencal Drôme.

The capital of the region is the sub-prefecture of Die, at the foot of the Glandasse mountain, a rocky barrier south of the Vercors, which rises to 2,041 meters. A third of the territory of Diois is thus part of the Vercors regional natural park.

Le Diois is also the name of a community of communes of approximately 10,000 inhabitants.

Wines: Four wines are made. These are a 100% Clairette still white wine called Coteaux de Die AOC; still wines of all three colours called Châtillon-en-Diois AOC; a traditional method sparkling wine called Crémant de Die AOC; and an ancestral sparkling based on Moscato Bianco whose single fermentation ends in bottle called Clairette de Die AOC.

Terroir: In the rules governing the Die appellations the INAO describes a ‘moutainous terrain. The vineyard rests on materials resulting from the erosion of limestones but also on soils developed on formations made up of alternating black marl and clay limestones.’

Wineries

Certified Biodynamic: Domaine Achard Vincent.