What does Grape smell like?
Bite a white grape: the smell is faint, juicy and slightly green. Black grapes are sweeter and muskier. In perfume, grape often leans towards candy because of methyl anthranilate, the molecule behind American Concord grapes and grape soda. Used well, it gives a juicy, playful opening. It soon fades behind the flowers.
Origin and production
The vine (Vitis vinifera) has been grown since antiquity, but grapes aren't distilled for perfume. The note is an accord. Perfumers use fruity esters and methyl anthranilate, found naturally in some American grapes, to rebuild it. Depending on the dose, the result reads as fresh fruit, juice or candy.
How perfumers use it
Grape offers an unusual fruitiness, neither red berry nor citrus. It pairs with blackcurrant, blackberry, peony and musks. Yves Saint Laurent In Love Again (1998) opens with it alongside blackcurrant and mandarin. Burberry Brit Sheer (2007) mixes it with lychee and pineapple leaf in a very light fruity scent. More unexpected, IKKS Young Man (2016) opens with it beside basil and blackcurrant in a masculine aromatic woody.
How to wear it
Grape suits spring and summer days. Brit Sheer and In Love Again are light and playful, so three sprays won't bother anyone.