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Elected World's Best Wine Steward in 1992, Philippe Faure-Brac, native of Marseilles and author of many books about wine, draws comparisons between wines and perfumes. There are obvious analogies, but also some fundamental differences...
Agence Méditerranéenne de presse for Osmoz
Philippe Faure-Brac was born in Marseilles, and the region's olfactory universe has left its mark on him.
What are your favorite smells?
I’m very fond of natural scents, such as the herbs they sell at open-air markets. Ah, the exhilarating scents of my native Mediterranean at the market in Cassis! Among the different families of perfume, I am particularly attached to floral fragrances, the violet-based ones for instance. And especially the whole anis family: aniseed, fennel, and star anise. I also have a soft spot for woody spices, such as sandalwood, as well as vanilla and mild pepper. Actually, I like any pronounced scent. This being said, for professional reasons, I cannot wear fragrances. I use unscented soap only, sometimes made with olive oil. Even my wife, when she accompanies me on professional events, isn’t allowed to wear perfume!
Yet you aren't indifferent to women’s perfumes, are you?
Absolutely not! I have very traditional tastes, nothing very unusual. As far as I’m concerned, Chanel N°5 is the quintessence of perfume, thanks to it's perfect balance and extreme refinement. The pefume equivalent of a Romanée-Conti wine! Aromatically speaking, both of them possess extreme delicacy, great complexity and supreme elegance. The aroma of oriental spices gives a bouquet of perfect elegance. In Romanée-Conti, this is expressed by the floral notes of violet and the fruity ones of fresh wild strawberries, ensuring a perfect balance.
Is wine tasting done in the same way as perfume sampling?
Not exactly. You are not influenced by what you see when judging a perfume; you simply smell the notes. More imagination is required than for wine tasting. Its a more spiritual experience for perfume, more down-to-earth for wine.
In concrete terms, what are the differences?
The main difference lies in perfumers' approach. In creating a perfume, they choose scents from the organ. This cannot, obviously, be done in winemaking, since flavoring is forbidden in France. The perfume creator is looking for stability: once bottled, the product must remain stable for years. The content of each bottle has to be identical, whereas wine is unstable by nature. A perfumer can resort to certain techniques to master the whole process of making perfume, whereas the winemaker tries his best to assemble what nature has given him. Wine tasting is more subjective, full of personal references. For a perfume, if the technical description indicates citrus, you should be able to detect that.
Which wines, in your opinion, are the most flavorful?
Some grapes are a real delight for the nose: Muscat and gewürztraminer are extremely aromatic. Certain old wines have an extraordinary bouquet evoking the woods, mushrooms, truffles, and gamey notes... but they can sometimes be disappointing on the palate.
In wine, is it possible to speak of olfactive pyramids?
Even if wine- and perfume-making are not exactly the same, we still speak of notes, as with perfume. The most frequent notes in wine are fruity, floral, spicy, "chemical" (for example, coffee-roasting), mineral, animal and balsamic.