Wine Tasting & Fragrance Pairing
Telling perfume stories through wine tasting is probably one of the most seductive experiences I have ever been tasked to do. Of course, I know my perfumes, but I also know my wines. I love a good bottle of wine. I love the whites, the rosés, the reds and the bubbles. Yes, I love them all. And like with fragrances, where you have your different olfactory families, it is quite fun to “classify” wines and make connections between them.
Gosling’s gave me 10 wines to taste and to pair with our LILI BERMUDA fragrances. Among them, I chose 6 that inspired me and with which I made some fun connections with my perfumes. My favorite ones, were Au Contraire – Russian River Chardonnay 2015 which I paired with SunKiss; Dockhorn – Decoy California Rose 2016 which I paired with Fresh Water; and Fontanafredda – Serralunga d’Alba Barolo 2012 which I paired with Paradise.
Au Contraire is a lovely crisp Chardonnay with notes of grapefruit, apple, cream, butter, and melon with a faint and underlying ocean air aroma. Its buttery notes give Au Contraire some nice roundness. We paired this wine with our LILI BERMUDA SunKiss. SunKiss was created around the theme of a pool party, and we find that it fits perfectly with Au Contraire because of it’s citrus and vanilla-cream accord. While SunKiss is much sweeter than Au Contraire, it has those sunny and fruity nuances that we love. SunKiss’ complex and warm orange flower pairs well with the low tannin and sparkling acidity of Au Contraire.
Decoy California Rosé is a blend of Syrah and Pinot Noir very much done in a Provençal style. A subtle bouquet of strawberry, watermelon and lemon zest introduces a glossy but bright, medium-full palate with good cut. We love this wine because of its simplicity and elegance, as well as it’s sparkling and fruity structure with soft acidity. Fresh Water is a simple but expressive blend of citruses, with mandarine, grapefruit and lemon, as top notes, with a dash of neroli in the heart and a soft incense and cedar dry-down. It is one of those fragrances that you wear to invigorate your day, to feel fresh and clean. When we tasted this Decoy Rose, we immediately felt that this Sunday afternoon wine would blend perfectly with our totally naked Fresh Water. Both are perfectly balanced, crisp, uncomplicated and happy to just exist.
Serralunga d’Alba Barolo is garnet-red with a slightly orange tone over time. It has a clear-cut, intense nose with overtones of vanilla, spices, withered roses and underbrush. The taste is dry, but soft, full-bodied, velvety and well-balanced, and is very long-lasting. We paired this lovely wine with our LILI BERMUDA Paradise. Paradise is the Grande Dame of our LILI BERMUDA fragrance collection – there is nothing subtle about that fragrance filled with sandlewood, red roses, bergamot, vanilla, amber and spices. We feel that Paradise blends well with this Barolo as they share an amazing velvety texture, are both amazingly elegant and leave a “sillage” that lingers long after you have experienced it. Both will remain unforgettable.
Needless to say, our evening at Gosling’s was an overdose of pleasure where all our senses were amazingly seduced. It was our first experience and I very much enjoyed sharing my evaluations with Gosling’s in-house Sommelier Mark Harrington. The settings were simple, yet elegant and perfectly appointed. Gosling’s Cellar is the perfect place to host such event. When the evening was over we offered everyone a bag of samples of all the fragrances paired during the evening. I know for sure, that all 80 invitees to this event will never smell a fragrance and a wine the same way again. What fun! Cheers to you all!
To see more photos of this fabulous event, visit our Facebook Album.