I’m drunk on roses. I’m flailing my arms around, making snow angels in the rose petals, and I’m laughing uncontrollably. The experience of sinking into a mass of soft pink petals is an exhilarating sensation, but it’s the scent that thrills me. The fragrance is clinging to my hair, my clothes, my skin. It clings to the rough cement walls in this garage filled with sacks of rose blossoms ready to be processed into essence, and it’s so rich and heady, it feels like a a tangible presence. The aroma–linden honey, grated lemon zest, and warm raspberry–will follow me around for days, and even now, as I’m writing with a bowl of dried petals by my side, I can still smell the Provençal sun on them.
我被玫瑰迷倒了.我揮舞著手臂在玫瑰花瓣間, 無法控制地開懷大笑. 沉浸在一片粉紅色花海中, 感覺實在是太棒了, 但香氣更讓人著迷. 香氛就盈繞在我的髮梢, 衣服, 與皮膚上. 也迷漫在車庫的水泥牆, 那裏堆疊著一袋袋的玫瑰花瓣, 正準備要提煉成精油, 味道是那麼豐盈, 那麼具體地存在於人間. 有香氣的椴樹蜜，磨碎的檸檬皮，和溫暖的小紅莓, 緊緊跟隨著我好幾天, 即使到現在, 當我在寫作, 桌旁放著一小碟乾燥花瓣, 仍可聞到當日陽光下的那種芬芳....
How many steps does it take for a flower to become perfume? I’m in Grasse, a town on the French Riviera, to get a glimpse into the intricate process of harvesting roses for the rose de mai essence. Painters express their vision with colors, but for perfumers and perfume lovers alike, the ideas acquire meaning with aromatics, so the art of making the essence is what we are to discover.
從一朵花到成為香水要經過幾個步驟? 我在格拉斯, 一個沿著法國小河的小鎮, 瞥見一個繁複的過程, 從採收玫瑰花做成五月香精. 畫家以色彩表達他們的觀察, 但對於香水製造者與香水愛好者一樣, 去採集香氣的意義, 成為我們去發現與表現花瓣靈魂的藝術
Grasse got its moniker as the perfume capital of the world for its fields of flowers that once spread out like a colorful quilt around the region. Jasmine, tuberose, lavender, and rose thrive in the valley lying between the sea and the Riviera’s Maritime Alps. Over the past few decades, the fields of Grasse have shrunken dramatically due to real estate development and increasing labor costs, but rose de mai, as rosa centifolia is called in French for its May blooming season, still remains one of the region’s hallmarks. The essence it provides is an irreplaceable ingredient in iconic fragrances like Chanel No. 5 and Jean Patou Joy.
格拉斯以到處都是花, 將大地幾乎要鋪成毯子而得名. 茉莉, 晚香玉, 薰衣草與玫瑰盛開在山谷中. 在過去幾十間歲月裏, 格拉斯能種植花朵的區域正在大幅消減當中, 因為當地房地產的發展與勞工成本的增加, 但五月玫瑰因為五月是花季仍維持為當地的重要地標與物產之一. 它有香奈兒No. 5, 與尚巴渡Joy香水中無可取代的香水原料.
Chanel partners with the Mul family to secure its rose and jasmine essences, but there are also other producers in the region. The grower whose fields I’m visiting is one of the small farmers based in Grasse, and he knows more about growing roses than anyone I’ve met. He describes the soil conditions, the varieties and the general state of business, and it’s clear that he loves his work, despite its challenges. If you’re familiar with ornamental roses and their luxurious blossoms, the modest look of rose de mai will take you by surprise. It’s the perfume of the crinkly, soft flowers that will dazzle you.
香奈兒與木爾家族確保玫瑰與茉莉花源的供應無誤, 但在這區仍有其他的製造者. 我所拜訪的花農, 是小而美的農夫. 他所知道的玫瑰種植的知識比任何人都要多. 他描述土壤的狀況, 花農業的種類與市場概況. 很明顯他愛他的工作, 除了挑戰. 如果你熟悉裝飾用玫瑰與她們的豐盛的花瓣, 五月玫瑰平凡的外觀會讓你驚訝, 她們的外表皺皺的軟軟的...
The bushes are pruned back sharply both to make it easier for pickers and to increase the yield. 60,000 roses are needed to produce one ounce of rose absolute, but if the pruning is not done correctly, the yield can plummet by as much as 20%. This is a significant difference, especially since rose de mai contains less essential oil than the other variety used in perfumery, rosa damascena.
玫瑰灌木被大幅修剪好讓人能更不費力採摘, 並增加產量. 6萬朵花瓣才能製造一盎斯的香精. 如果修剪不得當, 產量會下降2成. 這會產生很大差別. 特別是五月玫瑰能提煉出的精油比其他玫瑰花種來得少.
As you stand among the neat green hedges dappled with vivid pink, it’s tempting to imagine that picking roses is a romantic job. The colors, scents, textures! Except that the May sun turns blistering as soon as midday approaches, and the monotony of snipping the blossoms one by one soon wears you down, as does the heavy sack holding the flowers. Each picker can collect up to 6 kg of roses per hour, but my fingers are starting to smart from the rough stems, and I’ve barely collected enough to make a pot of rose jam.
當你站在一大片綠色枝葉點綴著美麗粉紅花瓣, 很容易讓你以為採摘玫瑰花是件很浪漫的事. 不論是色彩, 香氣, 質地. 但是五月的太陽很濃豔, 站在太陽底下, 一朵一朵採摘, 沒一會兒工夫準讓你疲累不堪, 加上放花的藍子. 每個採摘者每一小時可摘約六公斤的玫瑰花, 但我的手指開始被粗的根晶傷到, 幾乎無法收集齊可做一罐玫瑰果醬的量....
The ladies picking the flowers are from the Roma clan appropriately called “La Fleur” (The Flower), and they’re realistic and unsentimental about their work. Although they grumble about the low pay vis-a-vis the high price of the essence, their wages give them financial independence and security. “We feed our children on roses,” jokes a tall, heavyset brunette in a baseball cap and sleeveless black t-shirt.
負責採摘的女士們都蠻認真現實看待工作, 她們的工資跟後來賣到市場的昂貴香水相比有點太低, 但這份工資能維持她們的生活獨立與保障. 我們就是用玫瑰餵大小孩的. 一個高大戴棒球帽穿無袖T的女士開玩笑地說
When the sacs are emptied into a weighing room in a technicolor flurry of petals, you get close to being inside The Roses of Heliogabalus painting. Most small farmers in Grasse don’t process their own flowers on site, and before roses are shipped off to the extraction facilities, they are spread out on the floor and left to breathe. A touch of rot or too many wilting petals will ruin the essence, and occasionally the pink carpet is raked and tossed in the air. I can’t resist and jump in, tossing flowers with my hands. The scent of a million roses is intoxicating. I feel something close to absolute happiness.
Eventually, the roses will be loaded back in burlap sacs and transferred to the processing facility. To maximize the yield of essence and to preserve the characteristic fresh nuance of rose de mai, it’s turned into absolute, rather than hydro-distilled into rose oil. This means that the petals are bathed in an organic solvent, usually hexane, and the resulting extract is then vacuum distilled. The solvent is removed (it can be reused again), while a concrète remains behind. It looks like solidified honey, and it smells good enough to make my mouth water.
If you think that this is a lot of work for a drop of perfume, just wait. Concrète is only the intermediate step before rose petals can make their way into Annick Goutal Rose Splendide or Diptyque Eau Rose. It now has to be processed with ethanol (alcohol) to separate the liquid substances from the plant waxes. The blend is chilled, and then the solid parts are skimmed off. One more step to filter, and finally, one more distillation step to separate alcohol from the essence, and you have rose de mai absolute. No wonder this is one of the most expensive materials in the perfumer’s palette.
Rose absolute is the color of Baltic amber, with a green overtone, and it smells thicker, warmer and heavier than freshly picked blossoms. Its complexity is spellbinding, and as I take a whiff off a scented blotter, I can smell it all–the gauzy petals, the dusty rose leaves, the hot soil, the wild rosemary, and even a salty hint of the Mediterranean sea.
Extra: The video about the rose harvest in Turkey. It also explains the difference between rose oil and rose absolute.
Denyse of Grain de Musc was my accomplice on this rose adventure, and I’m sure you will read her account soon.
Photography by Bois de Jasmin
