Scent of fine wines inspires new fragrance

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Never mind those precious scents of tuberose, Oriental spices and the delicate florals from the French countryside.
Make way for Bordeaux and Sauterne. They are the inspiration for a new category of fragrances that offer the opportunity to smell like almost no one else outside of a winery.
Perhaps the competition in the grape business is getting tougher with the proliferation of global wines. In any event, some French wineries are diversifying into another French product, perfume.
Ginestet, a French wine merchant that dates to 1897, is marketing LeBourse as a man's eau de toilette, but it likely crosses the gender line. It is meant to evoke the oak barrels used to age Bordeaux wines with notes of woods, spices and vanilla. The packaging may be a little too cute. It's shaped like a Bordeaux wine bottle.
Another sample, Botrytis perfume, is inspired by Sauterne. And in another vein, the perfume 1270 by the Frapin Co. is formulated to emulate cognac. It must have a following. The Web site says it is on back order.
The scents are about $100 on www.luckyscent.com.
We doubt they morph into a new Chanel No. 5, but the scents of fine wine may be the ticket for women who want to attract a gaggle of male admirers at a party.