Parco Palladiano XIV: Melagrana Bottega Veneta 2018

He will come, the next July, for sure. Maybe we will be able to move freely again. Maybe we will get on our bikes and cycle through enveloping warmth along sun-drenched country paths, into the woods, crossing state borders, country borders, and back home. Who knows ...
Melagrana was born this month. The time of black currants. A berry scent of enchanting simplicity like the entire Parco-Palladiano line from which it originates. It shifts between picked berry, green shrubbery, infusion, and jam, while remaining summery light, floating, unobtrusive. Berry softness, delicacy. A scent impression midway between naturalness and artificiality, which I also experienced with many other fragrances in the line, such as the ones I appreciate like Quadrifoglio, Lauro, Olivo, and others.
But wait!
Really black currant? That would only be half the truth. Because "melagrana" means pomegranate. Can one be so mistaken? Already with Quadrifoglio ("Clover"), I was surprised that basil was the dominant note and clover was not detectable to my nose. It is similar here. Where is the pomegranate, that sweet-bitter fruit? Where are the tannins? Where is the zesty fruitiness, when I rather smell something like transparent berry notes with a gentle green-creamy accompaniment?
I spray the scent on again and think. Admittedly, there is a certain bitterness. But my scent impression simply does not lead me to freshly cut pomegranate. Maybe to grenadine syrup, but not so cloyingly sweet. Perhaps this scent is simply meant to be an abstraction of nature, a simplification, a reduction, where boundaries blur.
So be it. This scent deserves a comment, even if it is rather a rarity here. I like it in its simplicity and unreserved cheerfulness, which is not loud. By the way, I do not perceive it as unisex, rather as a women's fragrance. Nothing more needs to be said about the bottles in the line - they are personally unmatched for me. But that's a matter of taste.