A First-Place Essential Oil: The Château du Bois AOP Lavande Fine at SIMPPAR 2025
A competition judged at the highest level
The olfaction competition evaluated AOP lavande fine essential oils from across the protected territory of Haute-Provence, vintage by vintage. Among the jurors: Thierry Wasser (Guerlain), Calice Becker (Creative Director at Givaudan), Dominique Ropion (IFF), François Demachy (Dior), Jean Guichard, Edouard Fléchier and Julie Massé. Few competitions in the perfumery world draw a panel of this calibre.
APAL — the Association des Producteurs d'AOP Lavande — ran the competition, under the direction of president Sylvain Moutte and Jérôme Boenlé. Philippe Massé, president of PRODAROM, provided his support.
Château du Bois took first place with the 2024 vintage. 2nd place — GAEC La Sizampe. 3rd place — Coopérative Parfums Provence Ventoux.
Five generations on the Plateau d'Albion
Château du Bois has farmed lavender on the heights of the Plateau d'Albion across five generations. The approach has not changed: organic agriculture, strict AOP requirements, careful distillation. Lavande fine de Haute-Provence is not a product that lends itself to standardisation. It is a terroir — one that takes a season to make and years to understand.
The Musée de la Lavande congratulates all the participants in this competition and thanks the organisers and jury for the rigour of their evaluation.
Clémentine Beun: a young perfumer to watch
SIMPPAR 2025 also held the international young perfumer competition, organised by the Société Française des Parfumeurs. This year's theme — "The cultural, olfactory and poetic landscapes of Provence lavender" — drew sensitive and inventive work from competitors across the field.
Clémentine Beun won the competition with her creation "Lavande Argentée," an interpretation of Provençal lavender that was both precise and genuinely surprising. Her trophy was designed by glass artist Jules Dinand, whose work drew on the geometry of lavender rows as seen from above — the long parallel lines that define these landscapes.
On 20 June, at the Abbaye de Sénanque, Clémentine Beun received a further distinction: a special prize awarded in connection with the ongoing UNESCO bid for the recognition of Provence's lavender landscapes as a World Heritage Site. The award was presented by Alain Aubanel and Francis Vidal, co-presidents of the Maison du Patrimoine Culturel des Lavandes de Provence.
The Musée de la Lavande congratulates Clémentine Beun warmly. Her work carries Provençal lavender well beyond its territory of origin.
Gratitude to those working for UNESCO recognition
This edition of SIMPPAR brought into focus the sustained work being done to build the case for lavender's cultural heritage status. The Musée de la Lavande thanks Francis Vidal and all those involved in the UNESCO dossier for their commitment and vision. What they are doing will matter for how lavender — its landscapes, its culture, its fragrance — is understood by future generations.
Discover the award-winning oil at the museum
The prize-winning oil — the Château du Bois 2024 vintage lavande fine AOP — is stocked at the Musée de la Lavande in Cabrières d'Avignon, near Gordes. Guided visits and workshops run throughout the season. AOP growers and distillers are regularly on site: the people who actually made what took first place.
The museum opens year-round, seven days a week. Online ticketing is available, or book by phone.
