Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Reserve, courtesy of the brand
“Every fruit has its secret” – D.H. Lawrence
Working as a sommelier at top Michelin Star restaurants provided me with a world-class olfactory education. Not only did we spend our days tasting from the best wine cellars, but we also learned the rarified delicacies of haute cuisine. Nuance, refinement, and complexity jumped out from the glass and paired with similar excellence on the plate. As a sommelier, one of the first working lessons one acquires is the inextricability of taste and smell. The sensation of flavor is actually a combination of taste and smell. This happens because as you chew, you force air through your nasal passage and you both smell and taste your food at the same time. Collectively, taste and smell are known as chemical senses because each system functions to detect chemicals in our external environment. One forward-thinking creator began to ask the question: What happens when we introduce fragrance into this equation?
Founder Kelly Jones and IFF perfumer Christina Christie, courtesy of the brand
Kelly Jones, founder and Scent Sommelier of the Kelly + Jones brand, noticed the enhanced flavor and scent combinations of wine and perfume when experienced together. She made the exploration of how perfume can enhance the nuances of a wine’s bouquet the central focus of her Wine Pairing Collection. Kelly lets us in on her journey by explaining, “I created the Wine Pairings Collection after I got in trouble for wearing perfume in the tasting room. Rightfully so – if you wear perfume while your nose is in the glass, it can really interfere with the winemaker’s bouquet! It inspired me to create these fragrances made to pair with the wine in the glass, enhancing all the nuances and even teaching the nose more about wine aromas – all in all, to make wine tasting so much more experiential and fun.”
Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Reserve, courtesy of the brand
Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Reserve is a fragrance inspired by the aromas of Chardonnay wine. It was made in partnership with IFF perfumer Christina Christie and designed specially to pair with California chardonnay and enhance your tasting experience. For much of the past century, chardonnay has been one of the most successful white wines in the world. It has big appealing flavors of vanilla, butter, butterscotch, green apple, buttered toast, lemon, custard, tropical fruit, and pineapple, which are matched by equally outgoing and rich textures that can be described as full-bodied, lush, and creamy. Chardonnay is a rare grape that can be grown successfully in many parts of the world, though its most famous terroirs are found in California, Burgundy, and Australia. Chardonnay is usually fermented and aged in oak barrels to develop the grape’s rich notes and creamy body. It is also usually put through malolactic fermentation to augment its buttery profile, especially in California. Chardonnay can be manipulated to produce a leaner and more mineralic style, such as a Chablis or Champagne, but the more popular soft, rich, vanillic and buttery approach maintains first place among wine drinkers worldwide.
Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Bottle, Photo courtesy of the brand
Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Reserve opens with a lovely New American Oak accord that gives a rounded aroma of vanilla, honey, butterscotch, coconut and sweet baking spices wrapped in the lightest impression of wood grain. To my nose, a sweet-tart Honeycrisp apple note provides lift and brightness to the vanillic opening. Chardonnay’ wine’s rich and creamy body is achieved through the layered textures of orris butter, a subtle amber accord that dries down to a cedar base with creamy and caramel edges. I paired Chardonnay Reserve with several bottles of wine and found the most successful and interesting combination to be with an oaky Napa Valley chardonnay. The perfume drew out the wine’s secondary aromas of citrus blossom, melon, and crème brûlée that I did not notice on its own. The aspect of Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Reserve that most impressed me is its pitch-perfect sillage. How the perfume creates and maintains one’s scent bubble is masterful – not overwhelming, but flawlessly present, like your favorite cashmere sweater. Excellent tonality and longevity, perfectly tuned for comfort and discovery.
Notes: American Oak, Heirloom Apple, Orris Butter, Amber, Toasted Cedarwood
Kelly +Jones fragrances can be purchased through her website or through many retailers listed under About – Where to Buy.
Disclaimer: Bottle of Kelly and Jones Chardonnay kindly provided by Kelly and Jones Perfumes. My opinions, as always, are my own.
~ Rachel K. Ng, Senior Contributor
Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Bottle, Photo courtesy of the brand
Thanks to generosity of Kelly Jones we have a 50 ml bottle of Kelly and Jones Chardonnay Eau de Parfum Spray for a registered ÇaFleureBon reader in the USA ONLY, (if you are not sure if you are registered click here – you must register on our site or your entry will be invalid). To be eligible please leave a comment on this site with what strikes you about Kelly and Jones Chardonnay and where you live. Draw Closes 8/19/2023
Please enjoy Hernando’s review of Riesling Reserve
For more on the Mezcal Collection Hernando Courtright’s Behind the Bottle here
Kelly and Jones was featured in Video Contributor Steven Gavriolatos’ Holiday 2022 Video
Please read Kelly Jones Profiles in American Perfumery here
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