Vie de Chateau (1992)
by Parfums de Nicolaï

Notes (from LuckyScent): Fern, cut grass, oak moss, vetiver, tobacco, patchouli, grapefruit, leather, musk, hay.

The analogies are all drawn to Diorella and Eau Sauvage, but for me Vie de Chateau actually falls squarely between green chypres like Givenchy III or Y and the leather chypre of Guerlain’s magnificent Derby. I can see how the bergamot and herb top notes and the remarkably deft, light woody chypre foundation might fleetingly evoke vintage Dior, but Vie de Chateau has none of Edmond Roudnitska's trademark savory - almost meaty - quality, nor any trace of Diorella's overripe melon accent.

No, no such traces of decay cast shadows, however pale, over Vie de Chateau’s glimmering surface. Instead, Nicolaï’s scent is an unambiguously happy, if still complex and understated composition. Its core is a precisely balanced arrangement of sweet/tart fruit and crisp, stimulating green notes set against a warm, yet never heavy background of tobacco, discreet leather, moss and vetiver. Its green olfactory hue, springtime ambiance, and overall texture may align Vie de Chateau with Givenchy III, but Vie de Chateau differs in having less of an astringent edge on its herbaceous notes, in the added warmth of leather, and in the conspicuous use of spices. It’s the leather and spice that can recall Derby and, at a greater distance, Bernard Chant’s Devin. Indeed, if you enjoy any of these great precedents, chances are you will enjoy Vie de Chateau as well. It’s not merely poised, sophisticated, and elegant, but genial and remarkably uplifting to boot. If you ask me, it’s Vie de Chateau, and not the more celebrated New York, that represents Patricia de Nicolaï’s most satisfying scent for men.

7th July, 2011. (Last Edited: 12nd August, 2011.)

(Vie de Chateau Intense.)

Vie de Chateau tucks neatly into the citrus chypre genre, with connections to Diorella, Eau Sauvage (compare the very first sniff of each side by side!), Moustache and its own sibling Weekend a Deauville. It has that fresh sophistication that citrus chypres tend to have.

VdC’s smart twist, though, is that it has a strong note of hay that ties it directly to the fougère and indirectly to leather chypres. The hay note is a bit nut-like at first, but eventually pulls VdC toward a dry dark, base that is the perfect conclusion to the crisp yet disenchanted spirit of the best citrus chypres.

4th May, 2011.

VIE DE CHATEAU introduces what smells to me like a dry, smoky green leather chypre with just a touch of sweetness. The texture seems a little gritty at first but smoothens itself out as musky patchouli ties up the disparate elements together, effectively binding the dry brown of hay and tobacco leaves to the deep earthy green of oakmoss.

Excellent stuff! I can imagine how intrigued I'd be were I to smell this on a young woman. It has all the gravitas of a long-lost vintage, and the androgynous ambiguity to make it wearable even to the men. That it was delivered by a niche house is probably something we should be grateful for as I doubt if this composition could have made it past today's focus groups had it been a designer release. While I do wish the structure could hold itself together for a little while longer, the magic that Vie de Chateau weaves over the first hour is enough to make me a believer.

12nd February, 2011.

Vie de Chateau sits right between Eau Sauvage and Diorella. It is a lemony chypre with a herbal touch.
I love the wonderful start - exhilarating, fresh, simply wonderful, but the drydown is not 100% up my alley... might be due to the herbs used (tarragon, cistus). There's a faint hint of leather, too, but it remains in the background. Given the fact that this is an Eau fraiche, the lasting-power is good (about 3 hs). Not my favourite Patricia de Nicolai scent, but better than many others in the field.
7 out of 10 points on my personal scale.

28th January, 2011.

This falls into what I'd call a unisex sweet, smoky green hay category, almost like a variant of Devin that's been semi-feminized with florals, or Richard James plus smoke. Interestingly enough, LuckyScent considers it masculine, so the Basenotes directory is wrong either way; I'm assuming LS decided this because a lot of the earlier florals seem to be violet. Mostly it's tobacco on florals, which isn't really my thing (in fact normally I hate this) but it's well-done for what it is. Ultimately it reminds me of incense, but of the more floral, less woody or spicy bent, and stays away from the moldy or musty character of Tsar, which I also place in this family. It's still too floral for me, but if I were forced to pick a masculine floral, I'd easily take this over a lot of the heavier ones that get such rave reviews. Still, I'd ultimately prefer to go the pure violet route with Ajaccio Violets.

12nd December, 2010.

This a unisex offering, from her "eau" line. Not strictly for women, neither in in feel nor intent.

This is hands-down my favorite Nicolai, a perfectly-executed, refreshing leather chypre. It smells like an homage to 'Cabochard' and 'Diorella', yet totally modern; that is, it's much more modern-smelling, to me, than its 1990 birth date.

Much in fact, like PG's 'Corps et Ames', attended with a 'steadier' hand and a greater appreciation of tradition.

I find VdC's cool-vibed, yet-passionate attitude totally beguiling. And I cannot seem to get enough of the actual DELICIOUSLY-heady uniquely- "light" leather smell.
It's a spot-on 'soft' leather, with a whimsical, romantic twist of wet woods, animalics, herbs and sunshine.

I experience it associatively like horse-riding across a sunny meadow, then slipping away from view under a rich canopy of beech, where bluebells and damp leaves make a lush bed of the earth....
and then deciding to dismount, delving deeper into the mossy wood, where the smell of my horse and her saddle at my side seem to steam up in unison with the enchanted mist of the sheltering bog, offering me not only the conviction of belonging in such a dark, wise, and mythical wood, but also the comfort of my steed's life-force, and dependable warmth.

It's great one, Vie de Chateau. An overlooked classic.

9.5 out of 10

17th July, 2010. (Last Edited: 27th July, 2010.)