Perfume, Partick Süskind – Smith Haut Lafitte Red

Perfume: The story of a Murderer. No ambiguity. Probably one of the most disturbing book I have ever read. The worst is that when you start reading it you are inevitably tied to it.

Patrick Süskind writes in a terribly realistic way. The descriptions give the reader an image of Paris astonishing by its precision and realism. However, what is most impressive is that Süskind doesn’t offer us visual images of the scenery. Indeed he describes everything from an olfactory point of view. Before you can have the picture of the scene in your mind, the author gives it to smell.

“In the period of which we speak, there reigned in the cities a stench barely conceivable to us modern men and women. The streets stank of manure, the courtyards of urine, the stairwells stank of moldering wood and rat droppings, the kitchens of spoiled cabbage and mutton fat; the unaired parlors stank of stale dust, the bedrooms of greasy sheets, damp featherbeds, and the pungently sweet aroma of chamber pots.”

Hold your nose and follow Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, protagonist of the story. Born in the slums of Paris – in a fish shop’s garbage to be more precise – Grenouille wasn’t supposed to live. Life decided differently and gifted him with an incredible talent: an absolute sense of smell. Useful you could say; but dangerous too… The young man spends his life trying to create the ultimate perfume, the one that will make people love him. The recipe for it? Young virgins’ “essence”. And that is how he became a criminal.

Well, I know this summary doesn’t make the book particularly attractive. But, as I said, the moment you turn the first page, you have to read until the last word of the last page of the novel. You can’t help yourself following Grenouille in his quest, from gloomy streets of the 18th century city of Paris to the luxurious palaces of Grasse, capital of the perfume industry, in the South of France.

To go with such a novel we obviously need a wine that offers a complex and rich nose. There, I dried up. So, as anyone would do in such a situation, I turned to my father – the one who introduced me to the marvelous world of wine – to ask him for inspiration. After deliberation, we came to an agreement: Château Smith Haut Lafitte red. It’s not a coincidence if I have already told you about their second wine Hauts de Smith … I love what they do!

Château Smith Haut Lafitte red wine has an incredible nose. It offers you fresh notes of ripe cherry and raspberry followed by a pinch of spicy notes. And this is only the beginning… After swirling the wine in your glass, it reveals all its complexity of aromas: some delicious notes of dry herbs and smoke added to a delicate touch of liquorice and star anise. A real delight for your nose … and your palate too!

[Picture: bottle stolen from my dad’s cellar last weekend, don’t tell him!]

The Name of the Rose, Umberto Ecco – Piemonte

The Name of the Rose … No, it’s not an erotic novel, at all.

Umberto Ecco’s first novel is an historical crime fiction. Yes, history, and crime.

Close your eyes … you’re in a gloomy Italian monastery around 1327. William of Baskerville, a Franciscan friar, arrives with his novice Adso of Melk in the monastery, initially to attend a sort of theological convention. I say initially, because nothing happens as it is supposed to happen. First, a suicide. Then, a series of unexplainable crimes… Not for William of Baskerville. With an astonishing sense of logic and deduction and a relentless curiosity, the friar unveils in front of your eyes all the mysteries wrapping the medieval library that does the monastery proud.

The Name of the Rose is clearly an intellectual mystery. It’s not the kind of book you read during summer vacations, lying on your beach towel … With a style sometimes a little heavy, and some passages written in Latin (not a joke), the beginning of the novel might be intimidating; I admit it. But as soon as the investigation starts, you cannot escape it. You cannot help yourself turning the next page. There is an invisible force that force you to keep on reading. You uncover the dark sides of the Catholic Church during the 14^th century, you are immersed in the Inquisition era and you discover enigmatic works of great Greek philosophers.

Of course, it’s not a book for people who don’t like mystery novels. But for those who like them, you are going to love The Name of the Rose.

Now that you know what to read, let’s talk about what to drink.

When I started reading The Name of the Rose, one wine-growing region automatically came to my mind: the Piemonte, located in the north west of Italy, right at the foot of the Alpes. The Piemonte is famous for its full bodied wines with strong tannins that amazingly reveal all their complexity with aging. You may have heard about Barolo and Barbaresco, both made with Nebbiolo grapes, which offer some of the best quality wines in Italy. Even if a large part of these wines might require a considerable budget, with the incredible improvements in terms of quality, it won’t be hard to find some delicious Barolos or Barbarescos at a reasonable price. Anyhow, you won’t resist the seducing aromas of ripe fruits, spices and delicate touches of tobacco and leather that come with age.