Scents and sensuality - matching wines to perfume
It’s a sensory truth universally acknowledged that our sense of smell is closely connected by a series of neural pathways to that section of our brain that holds and processes memories. When experiencing wine we rarely give ourselves full license to explore the emotional and intuitive nuances of what we smell and taste, as we are too busy analysing the “mechanics of flavour”, deconstructing all the aromatic properties– in a reductive fashion, as it were.
Matching the subtleties of Lyn Harris’s fragrances to wine was an intriguing challenge. I learned that there are perfumes to match skin and hair colour, perfumes for a certain time of day (for example, morning- or -evening-wear), for certain activities, for moods and environments (to wear at work or for relaxation), perfumes created to evoke a sense of place (such as pine forests in Provence or a village in Brittany), or to remind us of special occasions, or to recreate certain images and even to conjure the notion of a particular period in time. As wine is matched to food so perfume may be matched to personality and mood. But wine takes us on its own sensory adventure if we allow our imagination free rein.
Perfumes reflect the art of blending natural elements and smells and discovering a position for each aromatic nuance in the whole. Making wine is also about the art of interpreting nature or allowing the elemental components that shaped the wine to speak clearly. Lyn’s natural approach to perfumes is articulated in her philosophy: ‘Fragrance is as old as the earth. The evening scent of flowers, the woodland odours of plants and roots, the headiness of ripe fruits, the bouquet of wild herbs, the trace of pollen on the wind. Such things are my inspiration for, though they stir the senses, they are redolent of something deeper, harmony and inner peace.’
The foundation stone of the Miller Harris brand is precious ingredients. Lyn’s unique style comes from her dedication to fragrance. She is unrepentant in her search for new materials, sourcing the best from around the world: iris from Florence, violet leaf from France, jasmine from Egypt, orange flower from Tunisia and sandalwood from the Pacific.
All the fragrances used are the highest quality naturals available which give the soul and essence to all the Miller Harris scents. With these precious notes in her possession her aim is always to preserve their delicacy so that they work in harmony creating works of art.
The grape variety is the primary signature of the wine. Some varieties are extremely aromatic: Sauvignon, Viognier and Gewurztraminer, for example, whilst others more understated and insinuating – Gruner Veltliner and Roussanne, for example. Some grapes tend to stand alone, others are invariably blended. The quality of grapes harvested determines the aromatic quality of the wine. Vinification and the choices made during vinification also imbue the wine with flavour (different strains of yeast, temperature of fermentation, use of sulphur, the shape and quality of the vessel itself), thereafter the maturation of the wine plays a part. Oak barrels lend another layer of flavour (different types of wood and ratios of new and old further determine the style of the wine). Then there is the matter of oxygen transfer during the maturation and finally the effect of age on the wine. The making of wine involves a succession of transformations, but sometimes the greatest alchemy is a non-interventionist approach which allows the various inherent components of the wine to merge in their own time.
The main difference between the perfumier and real (or natural) winemaker is that the former will seek to create a complex, vivid aromatic profile, whereas the winemaker may simply be content to reflect the nature of the harvest and allow an internal harmonisation to take place. The perfumier is thus notionally more of an artist, whereas the winemaker or vigneron, is perhaps part artisan grower and part artist.
Evaluating what one tastes and smells is often subverted by one’s preferences and prejudices. As I spent virtually all my childhood holidays by the sea and in northern climes I am particularly attuned to cool, salty aromas. They unlock my particular doors of perception and get me whiffling like a bloodhound for the scent. I am not, however, so sensitive to luscious, almost tropical aromas – I feel swamped by the headiness of their perfumes. It is the same with wine, I prefer edgy, nervous, lean white wines and I like my reds to have a savoury, umami moreishness.
I sniffed all the following perfumes for this exercise over a period of two hours. Having a totally untrained nose I tended to focus on the boldest or most obvious elements and hoping that the fog would clear and reveal the other constituent scents one by one. You can’t strain – you either get it or you don’t; as with wine too much sniffing leads to adaptation and consequent obfuscation – so the nose becomes tired and blocks the endeavour.
Below are my brief uneducated “smelling notes” followed by the Miller Harris description of the history and raison d’etre for each perfume and then one or two wine suggestions based partly on logic and largely on intuition.
MILLER HARRIS PERFUMES with wine suggestions
Citron, Citron
Citrus fragrance, ethereal, grapefruit zest, minty-herbal freshness. I like the easy interplay between citrus and herbal leaf. Light yet persistent, sophisticated, quintessentially elegant this refreshing sorbet amongst fragrances brings to mind the palate-cleansing-and-revivifying acidity of a springy Riesling. An Albarino from Rias Baixas would provide similar zest for the best.
Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett, Helmut Donnhoff – a pure, terrifically fragrant style of Riesling, light (in alcohol) yet subtle with lovely length. Beautiful crispness – this would make an excellent aperitif,
Coeur de Fleur
Quite a “girly” perfume, both delicate and floral. Freesias & sweetpeas, sweet raspberries and ripe cherries. Fun and fresh and definitely summery. This suggests to me a perky, pink wine with pleasing acidity, something ripe and fruity but not too serious – probably a rosé from the Loire…
Sancerre Les Baronnes Rosé, Domaine Henri Bourgeois - Very pretty oeil-de-perdrix hue, delicate notes of jasmine, cherry-blossom and rose, bitter cherry fruit on the palate. The floral & fruity components of this wine should perfectly complement the perfume.
Tangerine vert
Extremely appealing perfume. Delicious, fun, fruity. Refreshing. Sweet citrus aromas leap out especially grapefruit, tangerine, muscat grape and “with marjoram and geranium, some weight is given to these scents with a base of cedar, moss and sweet musk”. You would wear this any time of day to give you a lift, particularly in the summer. I was instantly reminded of the all-purpose gluggability of a good Moscato d’Asti. This is a wine that puts a smile on people’s face; its musky sweetness is offset by the tangy grapiness.
Moscato d’Asti, Vittoria Bera – biodynamic, sparkling, sweet white from 80 year old vines, redolent of freshly crushed muscat grapes and a brilliant hint of mintiness. (Wild mint abounds in the vineyards which are a testament to the benefits of biodiversity). This is great as an aperitif or with a bowl of best strawberries. It is the frothy, frivolious essence of midsummer in a glass
Geranium Bourbon
“Deep and rosy, a blend of cassis berries, lemon geranium and Turkish Rose – the scents of an English garden after the rain.” A subtle fragrance, one that you keep coming back to its light floral and curranty fruit it reminds me of a top quality Loire Sauvignon especially those examples of Sancerre that have an extra element of minerality to lift them above the level of the mere grape variety.
Sancerre Le MD de Bourgeois. The MD from the so-called damned slopes above Chavignol is both precise and elusive. The soils are Kimmeridgean Marl (fossilised sea shells) and the grapes, which are harvested by hand, eventually make a wine of great purity and intensity, which continues to develop after a few years in the bottle. The scent of the English garden after the rain has delicious connotations of shy buds bursting, the air still damp with the memories of a cooling shower. The Sancerre captures this tension adroitly.
My second choice picks out more of the discrete notes of the Geranium Bourbon although it lacks the sheer focus of the Sancerre. Suggestive of cassis, rosehips and red flowers the Mas de Daumas Gassac Rosé Frizant is a gently sparkling rose made from 100% young Cabernet Sauvignon vines. As you stand in the glorious Gassac valley under the cooling air of the Terrasses de Larzac you are surrounded by a green sea of garrigue forest – it is refreshing to look at and to be amongst and to enjoy the contrast between heat of the Mediterranean and the relative coolness of this remarkable micro-climate where smells are that much more intense.
Jasmin vert
Elegant & floral redolent of violets, daffodil, jasmine, citrus, mandarin – subtle and fugitive, the smell of early evening when the heat of the day is cooling down. “It is made up of summer flowers and fruits, violet leaf, daffodil, jasmin sambac with mandarin, grapefruit and pear. This is the South of France in a bottle and its sophistication lies in the fact that the jasmin is blended making it difficult to pin down to one flower.” I didn’t nail the southern French intimations and was transported instead to the clover and meadow-blossom scented meadows of the Alps where the warmth of the day is trapped in the valleys and the last scents recede… bleep – time out – pretentious quotient overflows. This illustrates how easily smell can take you on a long journey and how one association leads to another. It’s a kind of freeform music.
Les Cretes Petite Arvine, Val d’Aosta – floral and citrus-infused wine with mountain clarity made from the Alpine Petite Arvine variety. It has vibrancy and lift and subtle insinuations that make you taste something different in every glass
Noix de Tuberose
Exotic, sensuous, oriental-toned perfume – mimosa, wild green clover and violet, powerful yet pure – feminine and modern. “It remains an intimidating, headstrong and powerful fragrance, a great signature scent for the modern, urban woman.” This perfume has bold femininity; I enjoyed its striking impact, but I think I might tire of its statement if it was worn every day in my presence. It reminded me instantly of a great Gewurztraminer, not the Yardley’s sweet-talc scented cheap take on this grape but the superior lingering versions from Alsace and the Sud-Tyrol (the spiritual home of the Traminer grape)
Rose-inflected perfumes and Gewurztraminer are an obvious match. One doesn’t want the wine to be oily so I have suggested a striking (biodynamic) wines from the Dolomites. Gewurztraminer, Peter Pliger, Alto-Adige , is a wine of character, strength and beauty. It has a lovely bouquet of dried fruits, nutmeg and sweet spice and is rich and viscous. It will match a wide range of food: from lobster and crayfish to foie gras, gratin dishes and smoked cheese.
Fleur du Matin
Green, fresh and floral – lemon thyme, morning garrigue herbs and spices. “Fleur du Matin is a clean, green, fresh and easy fragrance. This is ideal to travel with, when you arrive somewhere tired and need a spritz of something to revitalize. Inspired by the dew and floral/herbal scent of an early morning walk on the island of Porquerolles, it makes a fabulous scent for the spring and summer. It is a blend of the natural scents of the Provençal coast; pine, marjoram, honeysuckle and neroli with lemon and basil.” I enjoyed this scent; it had a pick-me-up-and-relax-you’re-on-holiday-feel about it. I return to the sea of garrigue that is the Gassac valley with the cool mill-stream chuckling through the winery, the soothing green that stretches to the horizon. In the immediate vicinity clumps of wild herbs whose delicate perfumes waft into your arched nostrils. The heat is a cool, refreshing heat. In this remarkable micro-climate Mas de Daumas Gassac make a world class white wine, a veritable lexicon of different grape varieties (14, 18, more – who knows) all blended together.
Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc, Languedoc- refreshing, subtle, garrigue inflected white featuring myriad grape varieties but majoring on the following four: Viognier (for notes of honeysuckle and pollen), Manseng (for acidity and mineral focus), Chardonnay (for creamy mid-palate) and Chenin (for mouthfeel and waxy apple-and-pear fruit). Everything melds subtly and serenely.
Fleur de Sel
Green notes, savoury, salty – rosemary, sage, floral and herbal notes with leather and cut grass. Complex and sophisticated aromas. “Fleurs de Sel is a deeply sensual and earthy fragrance, with an interesting air of leather adding the final note to this masterpiece. It is a personal interpretation of a small village in Brittany called Batz sur Mer where Lyn Harris has a family home and has spent some of her happiest times. Earthy top notes of red thyme oil, rosemary and clary sage are bound with wild flowers of iris nobilis, narcisse flowers, rose and a hint of ambrette seed, finally blending them on a base of woods, vetiver grass and moss with a note of leather.”
I found this perfume particularly interesting as evidently it is intended to evoke a memory of a particular time in childhood and is very specific to place. The magical subtlety of this fragrance resists simple sensory replication. I thought that the salted damson-skin notes of a Dao or a bristling briny red wine from Galicia would fit the bill, but then I went back to the sea salt-and-green herb notes of Muscadet. The particular Muscadet I would choose is way more concentrated than the norm. The vines grow on poor schistous soils and the grape juice receives a lengthy process of batonnage (lees-stirring) which enriches and nourishes the wine, giving it fantastic aromas and great texture in the mouth. Muscadet sur lie Le Clos de Noelles, Pierre Luneau is an example of cru communale, a wine with the specificity of terroir allied to intensive flavour extraction. A further alternative I considered was the Terras Gauda O Rosal which exhibits white flowers and green plums on the nose and fills out on the palate with fresh grape and apple compote flavours as well as peach kernel. Galicia, like Brittany, has a Celtic heritage; it faces the Atlantic weather foursquare, the countryside is green, forested, damp and mossy – and beautiful in a rugged way.
Piment des Baies
Enormous fun, quite exotic, interfused aromas of ripe berries, zest and pepper. Bergamot flower, jasmine. Really clean. Male or female perfume equally. “Piment des Baies is another one of the Miller Harris fragrances blended for men and like the others taken up by many women too. It is a scent with Caribbean connotations with its notes of pepper and pimento berries brought together with santal Pacifique, orris beurre and bergamot. It is fresh to begin with and then quite wild, like the Caribbean. Think of Noel Coward and the Jamaica Inn; it is a sophisticated and deep fragrance. Once you catch the first sniff of it you just want to keep smelling it.”
I was looking here for a white wine primarily that had creamy layers of flavours with exotic scents trapped within.
Greco di Tufo, Vadiaperti, Campania –Smelling of orange blossom, with balsamic and mineral and secondary aromas of acacia honey this Greco has sophistication being bright (lovely balanced acidity) and deep with a sweeping texture. Bandol Rosé, Domaine La Suffrene – A more masculine style of rosé with strong component of Mourvèdre. Notes of jasmine and fennel, tobacco leaf and griotte cherries.
Figue Amère
Salty green figs. Refreshing summer fragrance. Hints of pine and cedarwood. “Inspired during a trip to Ibiza with the scent of bitter ripe green figs being swept up by the astringent salt on the sea air, it is blended with green violet, amber and cedar. This is a great scent to wear throughout the year but particularly good in the winter as a reminder of the heat”.
I like this perfume; it reminds me of eating figs off the trees in a vineyard in Tuscany; it was a hot day but at 4.00pm a gentle breeze struck up and refreshed the landscape.
Alture Sauvignon, Maremma, Antonio Camillo –A wine I drank in the vineyard under a white canopy on a hot day eating ripe figs at 600m above the sea level. The soil is hard volcanic rock composed of compacted volcanic ash. Grapes are hand-picked and placed in small crates, de-stemmed and left to soak for 16 hours at 5-6 degrees before fermentation (only with indigenous yeast). After fermentation the wine spends six months in stainless steel. This is a lovely balanced Sauvignon with a clean, fresh nose and gentle notes of figs, pink grapefruit and peach. Mineral and crisp to boot. Does the world need a Tuscan Sauvignon? Do I need to ask rhetorical questions? The tongue, requited with freshness, answers “yes”.
Eau de vert
Pine, lavender and geranium. Quite Provençal… Perfumes are associative and this reminds me of the Cote d’Azur, the smell of pine forest interspersed with fugitive floral scents. “Eau de Vert is a classic fougère, made up of the mountain herbs, pine, lavender, juniper and artemesia, that are so abundant in the South of France. Blended with these herbs are rose and geranium notes with a lot of moss, musk and vetiver. This scent is inspired by the chic man with the slicked-back hair of the 1950’s South of France.” I can almost taste the picture – the azure skies with a pinkish tinge, the scent of pine needles mingled with wild herbs and flowers. Provence is the spiritual home of pink wine producing pale or pearly-pink wines scented with wild flowers, fennel and herbs and often as dry as the rocks from which the vines spring. Nor are the wines, except for powerful, menthol-intense wines of Bandol, particularly alcoholic; their delicacy makes them a pleasure to quaff uncritically, but also provides excellent accompaniment to oily fish such as mullet, sardines and is a dream with saffron-drenched, garlic-heavy fish soups and works equally well with stuffed aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes.
Domaine de Tamary rosé, Cuvée Elegance, Cotes de Provence has delicate medium-bodied palate with spicy cherry-stone fruit to the fore, hints of herbs in the background and a clean, persistent finish. Chilled Pastis Lou Garagai, Janot. When most people think of Pastis, they think of Pernod. They are mistaken. A true Pastis must be made by macerating a secret selection of herbs and spices in a neutral alcohol base. Pernod is an anise-flavoured spirit that is created by distilling the ingredients, not macerating them. Both were created after the banning of absinthe in Europe by 1915. Today, Pastis is synonymous with the south of France, particularly Provence. Even if you haven’t been there, you can still imagine sitting on a sun-bleached promenade with a glass filled with one part Pastis and five parts chilled water. Serving this classic drink involves ritual.
Terre d’Iris
Elegant and sophisticated. Red flowers, wild rose, bergamot, hint of spice. Very feminine (and subtle) “Terre d’Iris is a sophisticated and edgy scent. It is a light chypre which refers to the fragrance family it belongs to: a blend of bergamot, rose and iris, all mossy and earthy notes.
This scent is inspired by the heat, citrus, moss, pine and sea air of the Cote d’Azur. “
I found this a more problematic match as I was looking for a delicate red that would women might find appealing and sophisticated. Certain Provençale reds have this quality (the wines of Cassis, for example), but I tentatively settled for a wine that displayed fine purity with a fragrant earthiness, namely Jean-Claude Lapalu’s Brouilly vieilles vignes. This organic red with his probing minerality combines notes of red flowers, pepper and mineral. It is a wine with a steeliness behind its prettiness and then, when you get to know it, a prettiness behind that steeliness!
Coeur d’Eté
White flowers, tropical fruit and cocoa, soothing, balm-like. Feminine perfume. “Coeur d’été is a very special fragrance. It was created by Lyn Harris during the early stages of her first pregnancy when she found everything smelt so loud. Needing something that would nurture her senses rather than attack them, she blended this very pure scent, made up of complex florals: white lilac, cassie and heliotrope, blended with such unusual things as chocolate bean, banana and liquorice. This is a joy to wear, a true bloom of a scent; it keeps getting better and better as you wear it.”
These riper notes call out for a white wine with more complexity and mouthfeel. I thought of two exotic whites, both fleshy (white fleshed fruits), both creamy and rich with a texture that caresses the tongue. The first is a Cotes du Roussillon, Cuvée Lais, Olivier Pithon, a blend of Grenache Gris and Macabeu, which has aromas of white and yellow flowers and then opens to reveal a captivating nose of yoghurt and warm bread. Moulin des Dames Blanc, Bergerac Blanc is a great wine made by self-styled Vinarchiste, Luc de Conti. An amalgam of Sauvignon, Semillon and a little Muscadelle with extensive batonnage and some oak-ageing it reveals Intense flavours of buttery, super-rich warm spiced apricots, peaches and quinces ,incredible concentration and well-defined minerality. Ample mouthfeel and vivacity essential for a fine equilibrium. Superb power and complexity.
Both wines bloom in the glass (and are superb when poured into a carafe and decanter). The more you nose them and allow time for the wines to reach their optimum temperature, the more they will unveil their very special charms.
En sens de bois
Dry, woodspice, cedar, sandalwood, cumin, juniper…
“Deeply embedded with sensual references to Japanese temples, gardens and incense, these experiences inspired Lyn to translate the true essence of wood. The uniqueness of this fragrance is all about the careful balancing of the woods; cedar, santal, patchouli, vetiver, bois des landes, gently enhanced with mosses, cade, amber, iris, carrot and ambrette seed.
All these ingredients connect with each other, culminating in a warm, earthy, heavenly inspired scent for both a man and a woman. “
Certain grape varieties, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, have an affinity for high quality oak. I was reminded of many of the top quality Bordeaux, especially those from Saint-Julien. Chateau Tour des Gendres, La Gloire de Mon Pere – elegant, fine-grained, dry. Spicy . Stunning purple colour, opulent sweet blackcurrant fruit aromas, cedar/tobacco, smooth vanillin oak on the palate, ripe integrated tannins, terrific finish.
Terre de Bois
Verbena, juniper, sage, masculine. Rich and perfumed. “Terre de Bois is a deep and sensuous scent . It has the fresh notes of verbena, juniper and clary sage combined with some spices, vetiver, moss and patchouli. This is a delicious and evocative fragrance for cold winter nights.” Once again I am transported to the Mediterranean, although this time the perfume evokes a variety of wines, both red and white. I am thinking (irresolutely) of Cahors, Le Cèdre from Chateau du Cèdre, a hugely sensuous powerful red wine that invites you to dive into its atramentous depths and is supple, sweet, and beautifully viscous with warm spices and phenomenal length. In a smilar vein the Saumur-Champigny, Cuvée La Marginale from Thierry Germain has Intense colour, powerful nose of blackberries, lovely attack in the mouth with notes of savoury vanilla, cinnamon, blackcurrant, fine tannins, great persistence with suggestions of paprika and mineral.
However, back to the Med and the wine that ticks all the herbs and spices, has to be the Bandol Rouge, Chateau de Pibarnon. Pibarnon is vibrant with stone-fruit, blackberry and violet aromas, but subsequently develops sophisticated secondary aromas of tobacco, leather, pine, and dried fruits. “From Bandol, tart in the finish, a little too flinty for my companion, but my teeth appreciate a hint of limestone in a grape. There is something manly and voracious in it somehow, as though one is drinking the rocky underpinning of the planet.” (Howard Jacobson)
Feuilles de Tabac
Sweet tobacco, oily notes, red pepper, hickory smoke, patchouli. An evening perfume. Masculine yet seductive and hedonistic . “Feuilles de Tabac is essentially a male fragrance, although like many of the others, it is worn by a few mysterious and independent minded women. It is woody and smoky, think of fashionable Brasseries of St. Germain. It is blended with Cuban cascarilla oil and pimento berries, tobacco and Malay patchouli. This is a deeply sexy and intriguing scent.”
Red Burgundy with all its evanescent, enchanting contradictions, light yet intense, impossible ever to pin down – Gevrey-Chambertin or Chambolle-Musigny from Philippe Pacalet – perfumed, sweet fruits, violets, menthol . A generous, elegant and rich wine with seductive fragrances reminiscent of amber, rose, violet, mignonette and fur. Pacalet is wont to describe some of his wines as “Cistercian”, characterised by monkish austerity and restraint! If this is a monk it is one who whispers sweet nothings and constantly reveals new secrets. Tasting across the range of Pacalet reds you will discern some common features; they share this luminous purity and are beautifully aromatic as well as being light and graceful, rarely tannic, and never buried in new oak.
We associate the Rhone with power and spice, but there are some very beautiful floral wines. One wine that I think would appeal to men and women alike would be Sierra du Sud, Domaine Gramenon – smoke and pepper, expression of olives, paprika and herbs.
Cuir d’Oranger
Wow – very leathery, dried spice and herbs. Hint of orange/mandarin. Very masculine. “Cuir d’Oranger is thoroughly reminiscent of times gone by, it is extravagant, luxurious and smells of tradition. It has a green Mediterranean note with fleur d’oranger to prevent the leather notes becoming too dry or powdery. It smells of delicious gentlemen, or how you would like them to smell. Exuding style, the scent was blended for the chic and sophisticated.”
Bold with bold here. Logically, one would team this scent with the heady, sun-drenched, leather, olive and sweet orange flavours of a great Chateauneuf-du-Pape such as the Cuvée Fiancée from Domaine La Barroche. It embodies strength with delicacy, an escape, a synthesis of subtle flavours: strawberries, black cherries, liquorice and a hint of toasty spice. Pure fruit and muscular minerality, beautiful texture and length with supple tannin. It signifies the perfect balance between kindness and strength. “Intense raspberry, strawberry, and exotic blood orange aromas complicated by garrigue and anise. Supple, sweet, and elegant, showing excellent depth and a broad range of red fruit tones. Silky, intensely fruity, and long.”
L’Air de Rien (made for Jane Birkin)
Coconut, musk, amber, vanilla, white pear – sensual, hedonistic, very individual, complex. “L’air de rien is a sensual translation of Jane Birkin’s fascinating life. It is an exquisite oriental fragrance of amber, vanilla, neroli, oak moss and musks. Jane’s intention was for the scent to reflect herself and her passions, an earthy fragrance to be worn simply, like a veil over one’s body, hence the name L’air de rien.”
One’s first impression is that we need to find a sweet wine, neither cloying nor unctuous, but something that works on several aromatic levels. Pacherenc Brumaire, Chateau Bouscassé “Brumaire”, a November harvest dulcet-toned wine made from Petit Manseng with a nose of almond pastry, pain grillé, cinnamon and caramelised pears. A veritable autumn symphony of a wine...The other alternative is to finish with fine champagne which offers a sophisticated contrast to the perfume. Cuvée 1522 from Champagne Philipponnat, a brilliant blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the premier chalk vineyards of Champagne, is aged in bottle for 7 seven years before disgorgement acquiring tremendous complexity over the while.
Vetivier bourbon
It does smell a bit of bourbon. Beautiful green oak notes as well. Really masculine perfume. “This is a classic French scent. It is a male fragrance, so sexy for women to smell. It mixes with one’s natural odour and wafts like a second skin around the body. With essence of vetiver from Haiti, patchouli, oak moss and vetiver bourbon from the island of Reunion, the ingredients are very rare and there is not a large stock. If a woman was bold enough to wear this, think 1970’s Charlotte Rampling in a St Laurent smoking suit.”
The dried fruits and evolved woody notes of the vintage Armagnac from Chateau Darroze would be a superb match. Chateau de Gaube 1962 has a golden colour with brown tinges. The nose is fresh and pungent. After airing, the balance is perfect, showing orange peel, prune, quince. On the palate, the tannins are round. Leather, coffee aromas dominate the fruity flavours. Very long finish.