Go to any posh tasting in the U.S. of wines from the south of France, and the first description you’re sure to hear is “ah! the aroma of garrigue!” Everyone is into it because Robert Parker started including it in his southern French notes years ago—and because, let’s face it, it’s a catchy word that makes you sound smart.

But there’s a lot of dumb garrigue usage out there. For starters, it is not a single herb, as some believe. It is a group of Mediterranean herbs—some familiar, like thyme and rosemary, some not so familiar—collectively referred to as “garrigue.”