Sun-Gria
Extrait de Parfum, Lorenzo Pazzaglia (2024)

The opening will hook a lot of people with its fun, bright blood orange note. There are other top notes listed—cinnamon, bergamot, and lemon—and even spices like ginger and clove, but they feel more like marketing additions than distinct players. What you mainly get is a citrus mélange that feels like being at a party and handed a refreshing juice. It’s denser and thicker than a simple orange scent like Orange Sanguine by Atelier Cologne.

After that vibrant opening, a wine accord starts to emerge, along with raspberry and blackcurrant. By the time these notes arrive, it becomes harder to pick out things like peach and apple. In the sillage, it mostly reads as raspberry and red wine. A persistent white musk, sweetness, and some woods from the base push through, which makes it difficult to clearly analyze all the individual fruity notes. The overall impression ends up being a generalized fruity red juice accord.

I don’t get much vanilla or brown sugar in the drydown. Instead, it moves into a lightly spiced woody accord, maybe with a touch of amber adding some warmth. The fruity notes from the mid do linger into the drydown, though. If you’re into fun, playful scents and enjoy a mélange of fruity red drink vibes, this could work for you. Personally, I think it struggles a bit with direction—it tries to juggle too many ideas, and in this case, less might have been more. That said, if you love the blood orange opening and enjoy a raspberry-and-musk drydown, this could be perfectly satisfying.

Performance is decent. I just wish either the bright citrus opening carried further, or that the red wine accord stayed stronger into the drydown. As the fruity notes fade, I start to lose a bit of interest. Best suited for spring or fall. The sweetness could become cloying in summer though. The citrus opening makes it feel warm-weather friendly at first, but the base leans more toward cooler seasons. It’s not screechy or overtly synthetic, but it does start to feel a bit underwhelming after the 4–5 hour mark.

l've never tasted Sangria, so can't make any direct comparisons here, but to me this is a very sweet melange of generic candy smells, especially bubblegum & boiled sweets (hard candy). There are 27 notes listed for this one, many of them fruits, but l honestly can't pick any of these out individually. lt's very strong initially, but begins to calm down around 45 minutes in, when l detect a hint of woods & vanilla. After five hours there's a soft, musky sandalwood in the base, but it's still very sweet, & there are still traces on my skin the next morning.

lf you enjoy very sweet, fruity fragrances, l dare say this is a good one & it certainly performs well. But it's not my thing at all, so another one for the swap list.