ABOUT
Ouverture London began not with a scent, but with a sense. A sense of place, of ritual, and of memory. From the warmth of shared moments over a glass of wine to the quiet intimacy of a space that invites you in. Our world is built on atmosphere; crafted to evoke, to anchor, to linger.
We create fragrances and objects that don’t just fill a room, but shape how it feels to be in it. A sensory world where scent becomes story, and atmosphere becomes emotion.
Where It all Began
Founded by award-winning wine writer and British broadcaster Aleesha Hansel, the idea was born from a decade of tasting thousands of wines and searching for the language to express them.
Over time, one truth kept rising to the surface: wine is never just about what’s in the glass. It’s about everything that surrounds it - the feeling of the air just before dusk, the texture of stone underfoot, the warmth of a shared moment.
And scent, more than anything else, has the power to carry us back there.
Scent as Storytelling
At Ouverture, we create luxury candles and home fragrance that tell the story of place.
Each scent is inspired by the flavours, textures, and landscapes of the world’s great wine regions - not to mimic the smell of wine itself, but to distil the atmosphere that defines it.
From the sun-baked hills of Provence to the chalky stillness of the Loire, every fragrance is crafted to evoke a specific time, place, and feeling.
Layered, transportive, and quietly powerful, they’re designed to stir memory, deepen ritual, and bring a sense of slowness to the spaces we live in.
The Mythology of Ouverture
Even our logo tells a story - a quiet mythology in miniature. At its centre sits the pinecone, a natural emblem long associated with awakening, memory, and the opening of perception. Across cultures and centuries, it has symbolised fertility, renewal, spiritual vision - and in the ancient world, it topped the thyrsus, the sacred staff of Dionysus, god of wine and ecstasy. To us, it also recalls the shape of a tightly clustered grape - a nod to the vineyards that inspired each scent.
Look more closely and you’ll find a face - not one, but many. An amalgamation of wine deities drawn from multiple traditions, crowned not with gold, but with grapes. It is both divine and earthy, celebratory and still. A quiet nod to sensory elevation, and to the rituals that ground us: sipping, savouring, lighting, pausing.
Even the name Ouverture carries its own layered meaning. Taken from À la recherche du temps perdu, it echoes that Proustian moment when scent collapses time - when a single aroma calls forth memory so vividly it becomes a kind of time travel. Like a cork pulled from a bottle, it signals a beginning. A sensory opening into something deeper: a space, a feeling, a world you can step into, and stay.
Crafted with Conscience
True luxury, we believe, isn’t loud - it’s considered.
Every material we use is chosen not just for beauty and performance, but for its environmental and social integrity. Our candles are made using ProTerra certified soy wax - a standard that champions sustainability across the entire supply chain, from non-GMO verification to ethical labour practices and soil protection. It’s a wax that burns cleanly, but it also carries a deeper promise: one rooted in biodiversity, traceability, and care.
Our wicks are crafted from unbleached linen and cotton - designed to burn evenly with no metal core, smoke, or soot.
Each scent is phthalate-free and composed from a blend of premium fragrance oils and naturally derived essential oils - a formulation chosen to ensure both luxury and longevity in every burn.
The bespoke engraved vessels are made from pure brass; a lightweight, endlessly recyclable material that retains its properties no matter how many times it's repurposed. Whether refilled, reused, or reimagined, these containers are designed to live on long after the final flicker of flame.
Even our packaging tells a quieter story. Our candle boxes are made from FSC-certified paper, sourced from responsibly managed forests that support biodiversity, protect workers’ rights, and sustain local communities. The paper itself is recyclable, and made using a chlorine-free process - but what makes the full box biodegradable is the ink: a vegetable-based alternative to conventional petrochemical ink, ensuring that every element breaks down cleanly and responsibly.
Beyond Fragrance
Just as wine is experienced through more than one sense, we believe the home should be too.
That’s why we’ve curated a collection of considered wine-lifestyle objects - from sculptural glassware to tableware worthy of a long, slow dinner.
Every piece is selected to complement the atmosphere we create through scent, and to extend that same intention to the rituals of hosting, gathering, and gifting.
Our Philosophy
Ouverture London is about more than fragrance. It’s about slowing down, paying attention, and surrounding yourself with things that stir something - whether that’s a memory, a mood, or the desire to pour a glass and watch the light change.
We’re here to reimagine luxury not as excess, but as experience - built on place, ritual, and care.