Our Unique Perfume Roses
and Rose Oil Production

Here, amongst the vineyards of Northern California, and surrounded by our collection of 650 varieties of roses, we do something TRULY UNIQUE. We grow 100's of roses exclusively for the production of rose oil and rose water.

Welcome to California's only producing Perfume Rose Fields!


Baskets of Roses	Perfume Roses in the Wine Country	Roses and the Still

Sections below feature important aspects of this process:

Perfume Rose Fields
Rose water/oil
One Day Distillation Showing

How to Purchase Rose Water and Perfume
ON-LINE STORE
NURSERY STORE BY APPOINTMENT (707) 433-7455 (Directions)

The Perfume Rose Fields

The Right Stuff- To produce rose oil one needs a climate cool enough to retain the very volatile oil, roses with a lot of oil content and roses that bloom profusely in the early spring. Of the some 24,000 known roses only a handful meet these criteria. In 1996, after 2 years of test trials, we selected Kazanlik (a damask rose from Bulgaria), 2 French and one Persian rose.


Kazanlik Queen of Perfume Roses from 11th Century	Picking Crew One Day's Harvest near Peak Bloom	Happy Picker Picking the "whole" blooms

Temperature and Time- Temperature is key, because the oil

starts to evaporate at

55 degrees F. During the rose harvest the picking starts as early as 4:30 am so the blooms retain the oil. At this early hour we work with miner's head lamps. We're done picking by 7:30 while the temperature is still below 55 degrees F. Our harvest season is early April through late May. Depending upon the type of spring we harvest 1400 to 1800 pounds total.
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Rose water/oil

still

The "Still"- After picking fresh "whole" rose buds every early morning, how does one seperate the scent from these glorious frangrant roses? We use the ancient steam distillation process in antique copper stills.

There are two separations in order to isolate the oil from the roses. First the temperature of the boiled water inside the "still" evaporates the oil from the buds. The oil and steam vapors pass to the condenser where the vapors are reduced to liquids and drained to a glass container. The second separation occurs because the oil floats on top of the water. The layer of water just below the oil is the rose water. The "raw" rose water is slowly drained out from the bottom to leave the pure fragrant rose oil on the surface.

Fragrance in a Bottle - The "raw" rose water goes through one more step, it is re-distilled, a concentrating process called double distilled. Real rose water has a cloudness to it, called a hydrosol in which microsopic droplets of pure oil are suspended in the rose water. One can't make any stronger rose water if there is literally free floating oil in it. We have available 2 oz. and 4 oz. sizes (both come with 16 food and beauty recipes).

The 1400 to 1800 pounds of hand picked roses only yields 2 to 3 ounces of pure oil. After aging it, like a fine wine, we make a it is blend of propritory natural rose infused perfumer's alcohol (ethanol), our unique "4" rose oils

and a bit of real ambergris. The ambergris is refered to as a fixative that makes the scent last longer on your skin. Rose oil and ambergris are 2 of the 7 most expensive ingredients used in modern perfumery.

Our rose oil perfume is named "Rose Embrace" and is bottled in a handy gold colored atomizer. You have to try this on your skin to experience your individual floral response. It is almost like Spring in a Bottle.

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♥ VISIT Our Gorgeous Gardens in Full Bloom.
        Roam among the garden collection of 650 varieties of roses
              and 200 kinds of irises.
       Wander down the 'Rose Allee', a series of 8 12ft by 12ft arches,
              billowing with climbing roses.
        Visit the 'Seven Dwarves' collection, the 'Hummingbird Wall',
              the 'Hollywood and Vine' Roses, and so much MORE.

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Immerse Yourself in the Glory of Spring!

Photos courtesy of Mikala Kennan.

Our Unique Perfume Roses and Rose Oil Production

Our Unique Perfume Roses
and Rose Oil Production