Vie De Chateau by Parfums de Nicolaï, 1992

(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. VdCs 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.

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.

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.

Dry herby-leathery top notes burn off into buttery hay and tobacco notes. I do get an odd something that I was able to place as banana after another reviewer mentioned it. Vie de Chateau has a good longevity: I can catch whiffs of this on myself for hours after applying.

I adore this scent. I find it's opening intoxicating; citrus without the loudness. I love hay and oakmoss notes, so for me, it's something I reach for often.

It is a wonderful scent for a warm, humid day, but alas, it is so fleeting. I wish it came in a something besides an eau fraiche, for on me, it seems to be gone in less than an hour.

My first whiff of Vie de Chateau immediately conjured up associations of Edmond Roudnitska's masterpieces "Parfume de Therese" and "Diorama". It has the same classic perfume style as these fellow fruity chypres and uses a base which is astonishingly similar to Roudnitska's. Smell-wise, if you combined 3/4 of Parfum de Therese and 1/4 of Jolie Madame you would have Vie de Chateau. I Iiked this well enough but could imagine it being more "me" when I am in my 50's or so.

Per The Perfumed Court, here are the notes:grapefruit, hay, tobacco, patchouli, musk, fern, cut grass, oak moss, vetiver, and leather.

This is quite nice-- hay, a hint of leather, and grass. For the first 10 minutes, it smells quite a bit like CdG #2-- crisp, tangy, almost citrusy, but with a more earthy base. To me, (sorry scenteur7!) this would make a nice summer scent.

Oakmoss, grass, leather and hay. This is sweeter than you might expect. Reminiscent of Crown's Sandringham. Perfect for cooler weather.