The Smell Of Just Budded Vines

Ever wonder what grape flowers smell like?

I did.

And I still do. But at least now I have a clue.

I was too early to catch the blooms in Loire and Burgundy and too late for them in the Rhone. But I did get to smell a lot of baby buds.

Plucking the fragile stems, bringing them to my nose, I was surprised to smell something utterly familiar....Dove Soap...the "unscented" version. The smell of Unilever's white loaf of soap is repugnant to me, while the real scent-- in nature --? A whole different ball game.

(Nuits St. George vines. June 12, 2006)