A Sommelier of Fragrance

Our idea, when starting West of Paris, was to be a plain-language sommelier of French perfume.

According to wikipedia -

A sommelier (pronounced /sɔməˈlje/ or suh-mal-'yAy), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, commonly working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all facets of wine service. The role is more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter.

Their principal work is in the area of wine procurement, storage, and wine cellar rotation. They are also responsible for the development of wine lists and are responsible overall for the delivery of wine service and training for the other restaurant staff. Working along with the culinary team, they pair and suggest wines that will best complement each particular food menu item. It could be argued that the role of a sommelier in fine dining today is strategically on par with that of the executive chef or chef de cuisine. A professional sommelier also works on the floor of the restaurant and is in direct contact with restaurant patrons. The sommelier has a responsibility to work within the taste preference and budget parameters of the patron.

In modern times, a sommelier's role is considered much broader than working only with the wines, and must encompass all aspects of the service, with an enhanced focus on wines, beers, spirits, soft-drinks, cocktails, mineral-waters and tobaccos.

We had a great sommelier for our wedding at LaCaille, a restaurant up Little Cottonwood Canyon outside of Salt Lake City. We knew nothing about wine. Our sommelier helped us find good pairings with the selections on the dinner menu. He based his advice on three things

• The occasion (A May wedding with a full dinner, followed by ballroom dancing)
  
• Our preferences (my preference for sweet, sparkly stuff and John's preference for less sweet and less sparkly)
  
• Our budget.
  

Within those parameters, he found the perfect things for us. And we had a great time.

My intention is to become an online sommelier of fragrance - to help people find what they're looking for based on

• The occasion
• The customer's preferences for particular fragrance notes (such as citrus, vanilla or patchouli)
  
• The customer's preference for particular forms of fragrance, like eau de toilette (EDT) vs. pure perfume vs. other things like shower gels, body lotions and talcs
• The budget

My objective is to help a person who visits our website find the perfect thing based on those factors.

I wanted to help people like me.

My experience with French perfume until my trip to Paris, and subsequent research was very limited. I live in Tooele, Utah. We don't even have a full-service department store with a perfume counter!

I knew a very few perfumes that I loved - generally ones that are easy to get in the U.S. I've loved Opium and Tabu for as long as I can remember, since I first smelled them on aunts and older cousins, and received them as presents and used them myself.

But I also didn't want to smell like everyone else, and wanted to move a bit beyond what you find at Wal-Mart.

I don't speak much French (all the French I know comes from reading the tourist guides, and a Rosetta Stone program that I keep starting over because I've forgotten the last chapter.) But I've spent the last few months researching fragrances, buying and smelling things, (it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!) and creating a search feature (with John's help) that lists key words.

We have a way to go, but so far, I think we still have the easiest-to-use French perfume shop online that I've ever seen!