An Italian interpretation of a summertime citrus.

Listed notes

Almond, palm leaf, lemon blossom, tiare, creamy notes, vanilla, solar notes, sandalwood, white musk.

Top notes

Siracusa from Gritti Venetia opens like a sunrise on a tropical island. It is bright, warm and summery. A sharp, astringent greenery lurks behind the cheerful facade, and stops the initial bars of the fragrance being too saccharine and nicey nicey. It is this greenery from the palm leaf, along with a zesty citrus kick which are most noticeable as the scent opens. The almond is pretty but fleeting at this stage. It has a warmth and friendliness which acts as a foil to the almost austere verdant feel.

In the background of this setting, and although it isn’t listed, there is a briny, marine air type scent wafting in. It gives that sense of having just opened a window whilst you’re staying at the seaside and having the ozone rush in. Coupled with the lift of the citrus and the bitter greenery, Siracusa is bracing, energetic and invigorating in its first few moments. It’s fair to say that the beginning of the fragrance is quite dynamic, and although it is cheerful, the initial power might make you fall back a step or two and wonder if you have fallen into a tropical paradise or a windswept bootcamp, but never fear, the fragrance is going to chill out rapidly.

Heart notes

In the heart of the fragrance the real sense of that tropical, holiday feel start to come to the fore. The citrus twists more floral as we start to experience it as lemon blossom rather than just the citrus itself. The tiare gives a heady, sweet and tropical sense of a floral sensation moving in. The marine air vibe reduces, and overall the scent becomes smoother, more relaxed and relaxing to wear. There’s no confusion any more, you are most definitely on your holidays now.

The lingering citrus acts as a fragrant form of sunshine, giving a glow to the scent which reduces to friendly and undemanding levels. A creaminess starts to permeate the fragrance and, coupled with the fleshiness of the tiare flower, it starts to feel as if perhaps you are sat on the beach having smothered yourself in very delicious body cream or perhaps even suntan lotion.

Base notes

In the final phase of Siracusa you still find yourself sat on a beautiful, peaceful beach and surrounded by palm trees and flowers, but now an attentive waiter has brought you a delightful little confection to ease your hunger pangs. It’s a fluffy little vanilla and cream cake, more air than stodge, and as you tuck into it you get wafts of the delicious confection mingling with everything else.

Once everything else has faded, Siracusa leaves you with white musk, warm skin, and traces of sweetness. It almost has that feel of happy vacation nostalgia about it, but thankfully this is a holiday scent you can return to day after day.

The other stuff

The perfumer for this fragrance is listed as Luca Gritti.

The longevity of Siracusa is great, lasting about eight hours following an application. The projection of the scent is also decent, going to around handshake distance or thereabouts.

Given the summer theme of this line, it will come as no surprise to say that these scents do have a definite summer feel and lean towards being worn at that time of year the most. One doesn’t need to be too restrictive with that, however, spilling this scent over into springtime and autumn would work too. Siracusa has a definite holiday feel about it though, so wear for relaxed days, or days when you want to be reminded of your summer holidays to warm climes by the sea.

We’ve previously reviewed Beyond the Wall by Gritti. If you liked this fragrance, you may also enjoy St Thomas by Nateeva.

The brand

Gritti Venetia are an Italian luxury brand with all the finesse that phrase conveys. The bottles are sleek, brick shaped in gorgeous different glass colours denoting the different collections (Siracusa belongs to the I Turchesi collection which have gorgeous blue bottles). The brand has a huge range and number of fragrances in its collection, but the scents are classy, extremely wearable, and possessed of that Italian sense of style which the rest of Europe coverts and aspires to.

Gritti aim to operate in the artistic space which includes inspiration from history, poetry and travel – amongst other things – but make no mistake, the scents are very wearable, a bit different, and extremely confident in their presentation and packaging. You’re in safe hands with a brand like this, or at least they convince and reassure you that it feels that way.

The scents are manufactured in Bologna.

Buy it

Siracusa is available from the Gritti Venetia web boutique where it is priced at €185 for 100ml of eau de parfum.

Header image by Sathish kumar Periyasamy from Pixabay. Images of the product by The Sniff.

We were kindly gifted a bottle of this fragrance by the brand, our thanks to them for their kindness.