Wine culture

Back home from France where I spent the weekend in a little village in midst of wine yards that cover the surrounding hills in gold with their autumn foliage. The days were devoted to hiking in the woods which might be worth another post another day for some thoughts about mushroom and mouldy wood. In the evening there was time for trying some of the local wines for which the Alsace is famous: Gewurztraminer, Cremant, Pinot gris and Pinot noir; and of course for some wine tasting. I always go to the same place again, Dopf&Irion, for they have a wonderful sparkling wine for an excellent price. This year, I also tasted a special Riesling which has won the gold medal in a Riesling of the world contest. It was incredibly rich, smooth, and velvety, with a full body which is unusual for Riesling, indeed. I asked Monsieur le chef what it is that makes this wine so spectacular. Well, it is similar to perfumery and very simple: You choose the best grapes you can get without compromising in quality, you tightly control the fermentation process, the storage and maturation and you promote the resulting wine with all tools you have at your disposition (thus, try to get the gold medal…) At least, they do not have to worry about bottles too much…..

As Monsieur (by himself) started to compare some of his wines with high end perfumes, and how an excellent wine leaves an unique memory just like a high class perfume, an old favourite idea of mine came back to my mind. I dream of making a perfume which matures in an oak wood barrel, eventually used before. I image how the diluted perfume grows by this maturation process, how it enters the wood and absorbs its scent, how it softens and transforms itself. Well, eventually….

To be considered once I have reached the “barrel scale” for my perfumes.