The Senses Report

Senses Takers at Toy Fair

2010-02-20T13:08:00.051-05:00

When UnderWoman ran into Pretty Ugly towards the end of Toy Fair, she asked:

“Are we having fun yet?”

“Lady! Does it look like I’m having fun?”

In fact, UnderWoman was being facetious…and knows that the life of a walkabout character is not always easy.

Things can get "pretty steamy” in those suits.

"Back in the day,” UnderWoman had received a memo alerting her to the dangers of walkabout Barneys.

Apparently Barney imposters – many of whom had drinking problems and other problems – were investing in purple faux fur and renting themselves out for “kids' parties.”

Lyons Group (now HiT Entertainment) issued a memorandum pleading with parents not to let Barneys through the "front door" if they had alcohol on their breaths and/or anything less than regulation cooling fans in their heads. (You were supposed to request that walkabout Barneys remove their "big heads" and submit to "inspection" before granting them entry, just to be sure....)

But back to Toy Fair 2010!!!!

Pretty Ugly was a little tired by the end....

But WOW, did WE have FUN!!!

Among other things:

UnderWoman’s person, Wendy Dubit (aka Wendy Do-It), at last connected with Dubit World – planetary leaders in virtual reality platforms. For years, Dubit (pronounced doo-bit) and Dubit (pronounced dub-it) had been showing up on each other’s Google searches. Now that they have met face to face, stay tuned: There may be “further “relations” between them soon!

In fact, UnderWoman and Wendy were at Toy Fair, at least in part, in search of new looks and worlds!

Some had critiqued UnderWoman's "first look" as being "very old" indeed.

But what did they expect?

UnderWoman's "proof-of-concept" character had cost her all of $0!

She had simply taken a picture of a caricature of herself at age 16, cut it out with an Exacto® knife, and voila!

Who wouldn't want to look like themselves at 16? But detractors claimed that UnderWoman's big eyes and thin thighs were of no service to Wendy or humanity. So Wendy bulked UnderWoman up a bit with Sharpie®, created some Colorforms-type styles and seasons for her, and was willing to leave it at that.

Now UnderWoman and Wendy were together at Toy Fair, scouting new products for The Senses Bureau and wanting to "ink" and "cut" deals with companies.

But Wendy and UnderWoman felt about as static as Indonesian shadow puppets in a one-dimensioanal world when they sat in on an Enagage! Circle1Network focus group with kids...and learned that most of the young participants have avatars that change their clothes and hairstyles at least a dozen times a day.

Where and how would they (UnderWoman and Wendy) begin?

At the BEGINNING, that's where!

Fortunately, the "clocks were turned back" during a dynamic “Engaging through Narration” panel moderated by Warren Buckleitner.

Afterwards, a heartened Wendy Dubit approached him: “I feel like I know you SO WELL for someone I’ve never met!”

Warren was quick on the uptake and generous with hugs: "It’s CD-MOM! I’ve always wanted to meet CD-MOM!" (Long before she was UnderWoman, Wendy published the first-ever parenting CD-ROM, which linked religiously to Warren’s Children’s Technology Review).

It was like old timer's day in a new-fangled universe. It was proof that, beyond all bells and whistles, the power of story will prevail!

Empowered, UnderWoman and Wendy went on to meet some amazing new multi-faceted and multi-sensory friends, among them:

Eye Can Art
HugMeez
Oum Sensory Awakening Courses
Blamtastic
Thames & Cosmos
Shidonni
Small World Toys

Sadly, old friends like Sea Monkeys, Easy-Bake Ovens and Mr. Potato Heads were not to be found on the Toy Fair floor.

But Wendy and UnderWoman will track them down with a persistence that would make T.S. Eliot proud:

We shall not cease from our exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

Perhaps a trip to Hasbro headquarters is in the offing?!

Meantime, we keep circling back to Dubit World, where we are very happy, very much at home....

Senses Enumerators on the Wine Trail

2010-02-18T14:40:00.005-05:00

The Senses Bureau and friends have been hard and fast at work on the wine trails of this world...all of which seem to find their way to New York at some point.

First, a shout out to MMM Miguel Martin of Palmer Vineyards for getting us going last Spring.

We've been promising to write about he and his wines ever since....

Greetings...From the Verge!

2010-01-01T09:57:00.002-05:00

Peace! Love! Et Le Beaujolais Est Arivée!

2009-11-21T06:22:00.044-05:00

Hooray!

November 19th heralded one of my happiest, hippiest Beaujolais Days, THANKS to the families Duboeuf and Deutsch, the brilliance of M. Young Communications, a gathering of great friends, Bistro Bagatelle's fabulous food, and one of the finest Beaujolais vintages in 50 years.

I am one of thousands who eagerly await and thoroughly celebrate the Third Thursday of November -- the day on which Beaujolais Nouveau is released from its homeland at 12:01 a.m., and is jetted around the world so as to be fêted in ways that are fresh, vibrant, fun.

This year's release was especially exuberant:

The celebration sported a '60s-style Love / Peace / RootStock theme in homage to Woodstock's 40th Anniversary. And it kicked off a week-long program of nationwide tastings that coincide with food drives...all of which are listed at DuBoeuf Nouveau.

It also marked nearly 30 years of Beaujolais education and celebration for me.

Twenty-seven year ago, while at Friends of WINE magazine, I had stayed with the Duboeuf family in Romaneche-Thorins, and had written Profiles of Beaujolais from their premises.

This was WINE the way I loved it most -- earthy, alive, fruity...and, most importantly, linked to family.

I spent every spare moment with Fabienne and Franck DuBoeuf, who are my age -- comparing notes on work and life, cooking, running through fields and vineyards with assorted dogs, looking at stars. But there weren't that many spare moments.

By 7:30 a.m., when Georges claimed that our palates were at their most awake and astute, we would taste our way through Beaujolais -- visiting small family growers in the evocatively named villages of Saint-Amour, Juliènas, Chenas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. By midnight, we would wind down from delicious dinners with the likes of Paul Bocuse and others.

Of course, it was incumbent upon us to spit if we were to make it to breakfast okay. And Georges remains my best spitting mentor to this day.

And while intervening years and careers took me temporarily away from the wine world, Beaujolais remained close to my heart always.

I just didn't know how to put my hands on the articles I'd written back in the day....

But Voila! A recent trip to the familial storage unit yielded a treasure trove that included Profiles in Beaujolais, the tastevin I had used for tasting, and assignment letters to young wine writers like Terry Theise and Robert Parker, who were then just getting started, if you can believe....

Anyhow, I hope you will join me in refreshing these memories...and in raising a toast to Peace, Love, Flower Power and the fact that Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arivée!!

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit, The Senses Bureau

Linked to Linden:A Fragrance Takes Heart

2009-05-10T10:12:00.003-04:00

In Central Park, on Mother's Day, after a solid week of rain, the lindens and lilacs are leafing and flowering out, and I am in a special state of Spring Giddiness reserved especially for this time of year.

Several Springs ago, after a particularly strenuous set of meetings, I emerged, exhausted, from the nearest subway to a scent reminiscent of....

Reminiscent of something I could not quite account for, but that was powerful and profound beyond words.

Without thinking, I followed my nose across the street and into the park, where I stood under the trees in question and reeled with joy and relief. Stress dissolved while waves of well-being and wonder washed over me. It was as if an abacus-of-the-emotions began recounting -- or rather, reliving -- every encounter with this fragrance from pre-verbal to most recent. Clearly, this was the tree that bloomed behind an old boyfriend’s country house. But it was also so much more.

Determined to know what and why, I returned to the park with my Smithsonian Handbook of Trees guide...and identified…American Linden! Aha! The French use linden flowers (also known as lime blossoms) to make tilleul, a soothing tea that, accompanied by a madeleine, launched Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past.

Being less prolific and more consumer-oriented, I proceeded directly to Whole Foods to purchase linden leaf tea and Provence Sante’s pure linden perfume. Subsequently, a fragrance counter sniff test at Saks yielded the info I sought: Linden is an active ingredient in Evyan's White Shoulders, a perfume my mother and grandmother had worn from my earliest days.

And an olfactory lesson that this winetaster had always known was driven deeper home: No sense travels more quickly or directly to our memories and emotions than smell, which bypasses the reasoning part of the brain and heads straight to the limbic system.

Much more on the sense of smell, how it works, and why it’s key to happiness, health, learning and love can be found at Coming to Your Senses, in upcoming Senses Report posts, and in an olfaction chapter I co-authored with Kevin Zraly for The Complete Wine Course, to be released by Sterling this September.

For now, the linden trees are in bloom! I encourage you to stand beneath them and BREATHE. And I hope you will fill your days and nights with aromas that keep your memories and desires alive.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Spring Giddiness

2009-04-04T07:26:00.000-04:00

Spring Giddiness

By Rumi, as translated by Coleman Barks

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

The Wine Workout:Tastings to Train Senses & Brain

2009-03-30T08:58:00.000-04:00

It’s a great time to be drinking wine! Never has the quality been higher, the selection greater, the prices more reasonable.

And it’s good for us, too. Among wine’s ever-growing attributes, studies show that moderate consumption can prevent heart attacks and strokes, aid digestion, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and reduce the risks of certain cancers and degenerative diseases.

Now, The Senses Bureau adds to these benefits through The Wine Workout, wherein tasting wine becomes a training ground for the senses, memory and mind.

Through a series of enjoyable experiences and exercises, savoring wine becomes the practice that:

• Deepens curiosity and elevates learning
• Strengthens the senses, singly and in concert
• Builds a vocabulary with which to express impressions and perceptions
• Enhances the way memories are made, stored and retrieved
• Clarifies personal preferences and style
• Promotes relaxation, conversation, stimulation, realization

While The Wine Workout elucidates the multi-faceted magnificence that resides in each well-made bottle of wine -- the embodiment of time and place, vines and grapes, soil and weather, nature and art -- it also acknowledges that that’s just where the beauty starts! Of equal wonder is what takes place within us when we experience wine -- from anticipation to articulation, from awakened and enlivened senses to the creation, integration and consolidation of memories.

Right and left brain, and numerous other parts of the body and mind, collaborate and communicate in making memories and keeping them alive. But there are few places that they work together as powerfully or as pleasurably as in tasting, describing, and remembering wine.

We hope you will join us for upcoming Wine Workouts that will feature some of our favorite tasters and tastings…and that you’ll invite us to organize a Wine Workout for you and your group.

For details, please e-mail wendy@thesensesbureau.com .

Meantime, happy tastings to you. And please check out Coming to Your Senses, about enjoying wine in and with every sense, and WineSmelling 101, a chapter that Kevin Zraly and I co-authored for his 2009 Complete Wine Course.

Lights Out for Earth Hour

2009-03-28T23:29:00.001-04:00

Friends,

Because I was powered down earlier for Earth Hour, and so as to conserve resources and share a truly great experience again, I am repurposing from last year's post:

I seriously need reading glasses. Somehow, I misread the time on Earth Hour's excellent website about when we were supposed to turn the lights out and experience the difference that even an hour of darkness can make.

I invited friends over for the occasion, but none could come.

And so, alone at the appointed hour, I powered down all appliances, lit candles, turned my rocking chair towards twilight, and experienced realizations, revelations, and rewards that I could never have imagined.

Realization: Quiet and calm accompany darkness to a great degree. Nature seems closer when you are calm and quiet.

Revelation: More is less. Soon, I was economizing even candles. And what I could see, hear, feel in the deepening of dusk and descent of night asounded me.

Reward: A raccoon traversed my windowsill and scampered up the netted scaffolding next door.

WOW!!! Did this happen often, I wondered, and I was too busy, noisy, bustling to see?

Was this some kind of sign -- an enticement to spend more time in silence, stillness, observation, contemplation?

Or was I CRAZY?

Later, walking to dinner, I took the park path to see who else was lighting up or powering down. At the gate, I quizzed the local police: Had they been aware of Earth Hour? No. If they had been aware, would they have taken action or encouraged others to do so? Questionable. Could they notice a difference in the city lights from where they stood? Not really. And finally: Could I have been hallucinating? Though I was admittedly alone and drinking in the dark, I could swear I saw a raccoon....

Absolutely affirmative! The police were as excited as I was: They had seen a hefty critter amble out of Central Park at the time in question, in no particular hurry, headed west....

Increasingly, it seems, 'coons leave Central Park to stake out new territories, run errands and the like. One neighbor reported that a raccoon accompanied her to Duane Reade the other day. And I've since been told not to invite them in for lunch, lest they never leave.

Anyhow, I arrived at dinner EXCITED to share my tales of calmness, wildness and wonder with friends...only to learn that Earth Hour was the next night. And I'd get to do it all again....

Spring Is....

2009-03-20T09:07:00.001-04:00

"Spring is in the cock's crow, in the smell of freshly turned earth. It is no longer wise for the nature lover to procrastinate."

So says a favorite, unattributed quote that I found in the early days of FarmHands-CityHands.

And now, you don't have to wait!

Here's hoping you ENJOY the first day of Spring, which officially began this morning, and that you'll find ways of getting your hands dirty and your mind clean.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit aka Biodiesel Babe

Taste of Terroir

2009-03-03T08:37:00.000-05:00

Among the many things I LOVE about wine?

How much complexity and magnificence it can contain.

Each finely crafted wine tells the story of a time and a place, a region and its soil, vines and their age, grape varietals and their characteristics, of a growing season’s worth of weather, of how the maker shaped these elements of nature into art, of how the wine aged -- in what types of steel or wood and for how long, of whether or not the wine will improve with age, and of how the whole hangs together...always more than the sum of its parts.

And that's just where the beauty of wine starts!

It is within us that the story of wine unfolds, its personality is revealed, and its fullest potential is realized.

But before I get ahead of myself and into the full raisons d'etre (reasons for being) of The Senses Bureau and The Wine Workout, let me get quite literally down to earth...and a little below it.

This year, I came to experience more deeply than ever what terroir -- the French term that literally means "soil" or "earth" and that largely encompasses all that that factors into "sense of place" -- can mean to and for a wine.

First, an International Sauvignon Blanc Tasting held by St. Superygenerously drove home how uniquely S.B. can express itself when grown in the alternately steely, stony, gravelly, shaley, flinty soils of areas ranging from California's Napa Valley to the Alto Adige region of Italy, the Martinborough region of New Zealand, the Casa Blanca Valley of Chile and the Stellenbosch appellation of South Africa. From St. Supery's 2004 Dollarhide Ranch wonder -- balancing the lushness of lychee, guava, lime and pineapple with a minerality that the winemaker's notes call "a million polished pebbles" -- to the bracing acidity and elegant austerity of Didier Dagueneau's 2004 Blanc Fume de Pouilly from France's Loire Valley, the world tour drove home the power and importance of place.

Then, aWines of Germany tasting, Raimond Prum gave me an education about slate, and elucidated how different types of slate can affect a Riesling's taste -- from the red slate that is rich with iron to the blue slate that is colored and flavored by copper to the grey slate, which, containing tin, confers the most elegant minerality of all.

Soon, I was not only tasting terroir as never before, but was also noticing how many winemakers carry their earth and stones with them to tastings, as exemplified by Lockwood Vineyard's Shale Ridge, shown above.

Now, in addition to drinking wines I love, I am collecting rocks...and reveling in the first-hand experience of new knowledge, which is what I live for.

For every good reason, I hope you'll join me!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Sense of Proportion

2009-02-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

When I can, so as to keep the senses fresh, I shop with love and alacrity. I practice fridge, pantry and plate fengh shui -- arranging foods I enjoy in ways and places that please me. I eat in color, with eyes, with joy, humor, heart and a great senses of gratitude...nourishing self and soul on so many levels.

For every good reason, I hope you will join me...and that we will be breaking bread and sharing wine together soon.

Warmly,

Wendy and The Senses Bureau

All That You Want to Be...

2009-02-09T15:46:00.000-05:00

Friends,

These days, many things are reminding me of a children’s book I’m planning to write: “All That You Want to Be You Already Are!”

“All That You Want to Be” began with the realization that my most heartfelt dreams and projects were born in me a LONG TIME ago.

I see it in kids all the time: The many who sleep with favorite books before they’ve learned to read; who write poems and novels and plays before they've been taught to write; who wake up singing; the chalk artists, dancers, firemen, doctors, police and teachers who play now at what they will later become...which is the continuation, maturation and celebration of what they've always been.

This is not second nature: It’s nature itself! Just like the seed is in the fruit and the fruit is in the seed and it's a chicken and egg world we're living in.

Anyway, I’m feeling especially that way these days, when a new venture -- The Renewables -- represents a return to roots (roots tracing back to age six!) and just the sort of branching out I'd dreamed of.

I’m standing in snow, but I’m feeling Spring.

As experience tells me, it’s been here all along!

What to Wear for Candelmas

2009-02-02T00:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Groundhog Day! Don't forget to CELEBRATE Winter. HOPE for Spring. ENJOY all of the Seasons. REMEMBER to PLAY!

2009, Etched in Snow

2009-01-01T09:16:00.002-05:00

Friends,

May 2009 usher in a happy, healthy, hopeful and wine-filled time.

And may it find us sharing many a fine glass together.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy

Great Minds Drink Alike?

2008-12-24T09:23:00.001-05:00

For some, it's has been a year of ups and downs....

But whether these holidays find you with your glass half empty, half full or both, we hope you have something in it that you love.

And we hope that you ENJOY...in every sense!

WineSmelling 101

2008-11-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

The 2009 Complete Wine Course is out. And in it is a chapter that Kevin Zraly and I co-authored on the incredible sense of SMELL, and how key smell is to our enjoyment of wine…and all else in life.

How does our sense of smell work? Why is it so evocative of emotion, so central to memory and so critical to happiness, health, learning and love?

How does smell vary across cultures and evolve and devolve over a lifetime?

How can we keep our sense of smell intact and alive longer, and use it more fully and joyously?

Kevin and I agree: One of the most pleasurable ways to train, strengthen and preserve our all-important sense of smell is through mindfully savoring wine.

For every good reason, we hope you will ENJOY Wine Smelling 101, and we hope you will smell wine with us sometime soon!

Warmly and looking forward,
Kevin and Wendy

Refresh My Memory....

2008-10-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

All I have to do is to hear the pop of a Champagne cork (which I’m about to!) and so many memories come rushing back....Of good work, deep play and the way I plan to “refresh my memory” today and every day.

For now, this Friends of Wine cover -- taken 25 years ago and recently reshot with the doll from France that inspired it -- makes me laugh, and reminds me that of all the senses, sense of humor is often the most important.

Eating in Color

2008-09-29T10:26:00.000-04:00

I was so lucky to be able to give a talk to The Color Association of the United States this week on the importance of Eating in Color.

It is not only possible to eat with the eyes: Sensorially and nutritionally speaking, it’s brilliant…especially at this time of year!

Seek out all things green, yellow, orange, red and purple for a diet rich in phytochemicals, vitamins, and other nutrients.

Listen to what pleases the eye in buying, preparing, eating and sharing apples, arugula, avocadoes, beans, berries, cabbages, carrots, citrus, grapes, greens, lettuce, melons, parsley, peas, peppers, peaches, plums, pumpkin, sprouts, squash, sweet potatoes, salmon, tomatoes, zucchini, zests (of lemon, lime, orange, etc.) and more.

Within each of these, there is an enticing array of varieties and tastes.

Make your own A – Z list and savor what happens with your senses.

ENJOY visits to gardens, farms, markets…and even your own fridge. Frequent the restaurants that serve best of local.

For guides other than your appetite and eyes, we also highly recommend Power Foods by Stephanie Belling, M.D.

And let's not forget drinking in color! We followed it up with a wonderful red, white and sparking Wine Workout that had us tasting in with every sense....

To your happiness and health!

Warmly,

Wendy and The Senses Bureau

Don’t Just SMELL the Flowers

2008-07-08T10:26:00.000-04:00

Next time, don’t just SMELL the flowers.

Touch them with your lips and fingertips, and provide a fragrant and multi-faceted feast for SKIN...our largest sensory organ.

ENJOY!!!

Catching Whiff! & Towards SCENTworld Expo....

2008-06-18T07:10:00.011-04:00

Friends,

I met Russell Brumfield at Martin Lindstrom’s BrandSense Symposium a few Springs back.

We guessed in tandem as to what made the box of Crayola’s in question so clearly counterfeit: Smell! The knock-off artists had failed to capture the crayon aromas that so many of us know and love.

We went on to share many conversations on the importance of smell to all aspects of health, happiness, learning and success…including in-depth discussions of what it might mean -- marketingwise and otherwise -- to couple the primal powers of smell with the holy grails of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Now, Russell has a compelling new book and an upcoming conference on these subjects:

Whiff: The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age, written with James Goldney and Stephanie Gunning, was just released this week.

And SCENTworld Expo, which will take place at NYC’s Marriott Marquis June 29 – July 1 features Russell Brumfield, James Goldney and many other leaders from sensory marketing realms, among them NY Times fragrance critic Chandler Burr and Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.

From noon - 1:15 on June 30, I’ll be moderating a panel on Creating Multi-Sensory Environments that will feature experts Kate Smith, Jeff Mariola, Wilbert Hirsch and John van Roemburg.

For me, this is a culmination of so much that I’ve implicitly known from my earliest years (creating gently changing scapes of smells, sights, sounds and sensations so as to enhance learning, recall and the enjoyment of it all) as it applies to the art and science of building multi-sensory experiences, environments and brands.

As always, I look forward to sharing what I know and learning more.

And for every good reason, I hope you’ll join us.

Registration is still open for SCENTworld Expo and there will be many opportunities for us to raise a good glass at it.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

A Call to Open Farms!

2008-05-26T08:48:00.000-04:00

Friends,

I could not be more excited about what's in the works!

As a first call-to-action from The Renewables: Thinkable is Doable!, we are busy building out A Call to Open Farms.

A Call to Open Farms couples the tactility of my first non-profit -- FarmHands-CityHands, formed 22 years ago to link farm and city for the social, cultural, economic and environmental enrichment of both -- with the immediacy and reach of today’s technology.

This growing season, A Call to Open Farms will encourage and enable folks from all walks of life to visit as many area farms, farmers' markets, country and county fairs, stores and restaurants that support local agriculture as possible.

It will:

* Educate people about the importance of local food and farming, and about the opportunities for farm-city links.

* Guide participants to area markets, farms, wineries, breweries, distilleries, fairs, festivals, stores and restaurants that support local agriculture, including ways and means of getting there.

* Give them the tools to provide creative and profuse Proof of Presence (PoP) -- allowing them to post a vibrant array of videos, photos, stories, songs, performances, poems, recipes and more at www.therenewables.net and www.farmhands.org.

* Reward them for their involvement -- from the intrinsic pleasures of digging in, helping out, making friends and being the farm-city link to prizes like FarmStay getaways, flower bouquets, private wine tastings, meet-the-chef meals, and more….

* Celebrate the results with exciting events like Eaters' Appreciation Day, Giving of Thanks Soiree, and more.

We're now finalizing plans for in-city FarmFests, biodiesel bus tours, up-country FarmDays, and for a program that we think will herald a delicious and propitious bonding of people, call to nature and use of technology.

We'll of course keep you posted!

A Call to Open Farms will be a wonderful ride. And we want you with us on it from the first!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, aka Biodiesel Babe

Those Who Prey Together....

2008-05-18T07:15:00.000-04:00

“Those who prey together stay together!”

So claims Green Chimneys, one of my favorite organizations.

And they should know! For 60 years, Green Chimneys (GC) has been a leader in animal-assisted therapy.

As part of their residential flourishment program, youth sent to Green Chimneys by New York City and State enjoy a hands-on brand of education where, among other things, they grow and sell organic produce, have a robust culinary arts program, tend rare breeds of barnyard animals and rehabilitate injured wildlife.

On Sunday, June 1, Green Chimneys students will help host a full day’s Birds of Prey festivities that will culminate with the freeing of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk back to the wild.

If you can, please get yourself up Brewster way for Birds of Prey Day. And please join me in supporting GC at their 60th Anniversary Celebration on June 5 in NYC.

Meantime, a shout out to the magical Josephine Monter, whose eagle eyes are pictured above. She will be hosting mask-making workshops at Omega on July 13 - 18 and August 10 - 15.

THANKS to Green Chimneys, Josephine…and to all of you…for working wonders and for playing with us when you can.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, aka Biodiesel Babe

SxSWente

2008-03-22T06:35:00.007-04:00

Friends,

I am fresh back from the SXSW music fest in Austin, Texas. And I am rejuvenated, inspired, impressed!

I was there thanks to the exquisite Heidi Richman, Program Director of Wente's Discover the Wine, Discover the Music campaign.

Founded in 1883 by C. H. Wente, Wente Vineyards is California's oldest family owned and continuously operated winery.

For more than twenty years, the Wente Family Concert Series has hosted headliner artists ranging from Ray Charles to Buena Vista Social Club at their stunning Livermore Valley ranch.

Discover the Wine, Discover the Music puts a new spin on the Wente Family's passion:

Spearheaded by Karl Wente -- fifth generation winemaker, fine musician and exceptionally evolved human -- the program pairs Wente's 100% estate-grown wines with breaking new artists in innovative ways. For example, neck tags on participating Wente wines include codes for free music downloads and info on how songs like Under the Influence of Giant's joyous "In the Clouds" pair with the crisp and honeysuckled notes of Wente's Riverbank Riesling; how Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh's
"We Hung the Moon" mesh with Wente's appley, oaky Morning Fog Chardonnay.

It's a program that sings to me in every sense. And I wanted to be part of Heidi's high-profile promoting of it, built on her years of experience and success, at SXSW.

After all, I impressed upon her, I can pop, open, pour, have been talking and writing about wine since long before it was legal for me to drink, and have not ceased from exploration. And somewhere in the midst of it all, I entered the music industry....

And so, happily, I was invited along for what has proved one of the most pleasurable rides of my life.

While I savored Wente's ripe, luscious Riva Ranch Chardonnay and their long, smooth Southern Hills Cabernet on the front porch of a gracious Garden Street home, Karl and fellow Front Porch singer/songwriter Megan Bradford played covers of my favorite songs (John Prine, Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Tom Petty), introduced me to new ones (Brothers Lekas, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tally Hall) and knocked my socks off with their own work.

On March 13, at The Moonshine Veranda, Wente treated musicians, industry execs, lifestyle and entertainment press to one of the most intoxicating blends of standout wines, spicy food and mellow tunes that it has ever been my privilege to experience.

And then, it was time to get on the bus!

The Wine Bus, that is -- festooned with Karl's image and his “Discover the Wine, Discover the Music” tag outside, and offering up a cool, acoustically correct, wine-laden lair within.

Karl, Megan, Simi Sernaker of Suffrajett and Jason Russo of Hopewell played music while we made our way to the hottest (and I’m talking 95 degrees that day) venues. At stops that ranged from the swank Whole Foods Lamar St. parking lot to the controlled chaos of Maria’s Taco Xpress, festival goers, fellow musicians and VIP press would get on board to play music, drink wine, conduct interviews and such. I popped, poured, talked about the wines that I had come to know and love, and held my own (that particular time).

Then my official "tour of duty" was over!

I was free to soak up all the strangeness and beauty that is SXSW (1500 bands, 400 films and an embarrassment of parties) in Austin, Texas (a town I love so much I could live there) in Spring (redbud, wisteria, birdsong, splendiferous beyond words).

Mostly, I hung out on the Garden Street front porch and imbibed all the Simi, Karl and Megan music I could.

I bought running shoes and cowboy boots, but spent my time barefoot.

It felt SO GOOD!

Flying home, I read an endnote that Kevin Smokler had written for Austin Chronicle:

“How Your South-By High Can Last Through the Rest of the Year:

Was it a dream? Where do I go from here? What’s this business card stuck to my toothbrush?

Where, in little changes or giant swings, can you draw on SXSW as the start of something new instead of just letting what happens in Austin stay in Austin?”

I think I know....

In significant (and not unSchrodingerlike) ways, I’m still on the bus, inside the music, drinking enough Wente for all of us.

And if they'll have me, I hope my Livermore friends will keep their corkscrews handy:

When next I can, I’ll wend my way West for more of their wine, music, kind.

Meantime, from my perch to their porch, I send admiration, appreciation, LOVE.

For me, this party is so not over! In fact, it’s just begun....

SPRING Into Action....

2008-03-20T06:48:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Spring, which officially began this morning.

And here's inviting us to do wonderful, meaningful things, this season...and always!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit aka Biodiesel Babe.

Schools, Food, Community

2008-03-18T23:36:00.004-04:00

Friends,

I encourage you to join our group of practitioners, parents and advocates for Schools, Food and Community -- an inspiration and action-packed day and a half of panels, workshops, resources, entertainment and networking.

The program -- produced by Baum Forum and the Nutrition Program of Teachers College -- takes place on April ll and 12th at Teachers College of Columbia University, Broadway between 120 and 121st St.

It will focus on strengthening the resolve and ability of children to eat nutritious, fresh foods by:

* Connecting holistic food and nutrition messaging in our classrooms, cafeterias, after-school programs, homes, and neighborhoods

* Fostering relationships among children and their communities that focus on food, cooking, and gardening

* Exploring the nuts and bolts of cross-sector (i.e. health, education, food service, and agriculture) public and private collaborations

* Committing to actions we can take.

Last year's program sold out. So here's hoping you will register soon and looking forward to seeing you there!

Warmly,
Wendy

Leap Year!

2008-02-28T00:53:00.004-05:00

Whatever you do with this year's LEAP DAY, may it hold leaps of faith, love, learning and life for you. And maybe a little wine, too?!

Sense of Wonder

2008-02-08T14:28:00.002-05:00

Lindaa and I walked silently along the Cliffs of Mohr. It was Spring and Winter all at once...and so off-season that even Gifts of Mohr was closed.

Driving back to Logues, we rolled down the windows so as to better see, feel, smell and hear sunset, dusk, deeper darkness, rain, sleet, snow, manure, meadow, sea, animals, ocean.

It was one of those times that remains alive and enriches in every sense.

Wintering....

2008-02-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I arrived in Ireland forJohn O'Donohue's memorial service. Lindaa and I drove from the airport to Co. Clare through snow so fresh that our tracks were the first. Later, we learned that Feb. 1 is also the first day of Irish Spring.

It found me remembering a favorite quote from Diana Kappel-Smith's Wintering:

"In the winter, everything out of doors seems to be gone. But...we know that nothing is gone, and that all the rich life of a June morning is out there on a January morning."

The Space Between Us? Blessings To, For, From John

2008-01-15T23:29:00.002-05:00

In Tribute to Poet, Philosopher, Friend John O’ Donohue….
Jan. 1 1956 – Jan. 4 2008

Our last e-mail, on Jan. 1, was just Happy: Happy New Year! Happy New Book! Happy Birthday! Happy Everything!

I know he went Happy.

But all of us in his circles -- intimate, expanding, infinite -- are bereft.

On Jan. 4, we lost our beloved John O’Donohue.

Or have we? Because as John always said, “Nothing is ever lost or forgotten.”

And he gave us more to remember, think about, hope for and grow towards than anyone I know.

I had the privilege of working with him last year.

Amongst phone calls, e-mails, meetings, we had fun thinking, talking, laughing, drinking, challenging each others’ beliefs and expanding each others’ horizons.

John is a spiritual mystic, Irish philosopher, prolific writer, part-time farmer and former Catholic priest.

I am an urban, agnostic entrepreneur.

In the birthing of his latest book -- Benedictus (to be published as To Bless the Space Between Us in the U.S. this March) -- we talked a lot about love, life, death, and everything before, after and in between.

“The dead,” he would say, “are nearer than they seem.”

I could grasp this in the same way that my Dad lives on in me through DNA and jokes we tell...as well as from a particle physics perspective: “We are in the universe. And the universe is in us. Isn’t that enough?” (Neil DeGrasse Tyson)

But anything beyond that would have to seen to be believed....

“You’ll see," he would say, "In the Celtic landscape and all over. Someday....”

Who knew how soon someday would come?

I don’t usually ask for signs. Or see them when they're there, but....

On the night of Jan. 3, in a rare effort to clear clutter, I came upon obituaries, eulogies and wills from one branch of my family tree. I was moved beyond words...into that reverent space where the sadness of loss balances perfectly with the appreciation of presence.

I can’t put my finger on why, but on a train ride north, I read poems from Linda Pastan’s An Early Afterlife, and was struck by these lines:

“Why don’t we say good-bye right now
In the fallacy of perfect health
Before whatever is going to happen
Happens….”

Hours later, I received the devastating, unexpected news: John had died peacefully in his sleep while on holiday in the South of France. No further details were available.

Immediately, hearts all over the world went out from his group of friends, fans and colleagues...all of us to each other, and most of all to his family and Kristine. Sadness, memories, stories, love and consolation were shared in unbelievable concentration and constellations via e-mail, on the Internet, over the phone. Tributes went up…on www.johnodonuhue.com and elsewhere, from friends and colleagues like David Whyte, Gareth Higgins, Jesse Kornbluth and from venues he appeared at often, like Miriam's Well and Kripalu. We were able to hear his voice on NPR, BBC and elsewhere.

Those who could gathered in Ireland, where he was laid to rest. I took solace in the thought that two soul friends, Linda and Loretta, might be bookends that would bring true a line from John’s “Blessing for Death” from Anam Cara: “May your going be sheltered and your welcome assured.”

Me? I drank whiskey in his honor, and prayed as best I could at the time...including for a sign.

Bizarrely (though I’m sure it wouldn’t have seemed so to him), a lovingly inscribed copy of Benedictus: A Book of Blessings, arrived on the day of his funeral: He had sent and meant it to be there by Christmas. But it had gone to a wrong zip...sitting at that post office for a bit before finding me at just the right time.

It was one more way for John to say: “You are never alone” -- a proof point of the paradox, merriment, bedevilment, fulfillment, embodiment, humor, joy and generosity that is John....

Almost all the words I can find to express my sadness and hope are in that book and his others.

If you haven’t already, I hope you will go to the sources to hear, read, share the soul-satisfying stuff he is made of.

Here, I’ll simply end with Stars, a poem that I hope brings comfort and that perfectly expresses what I've come to know and believe about the universe, those that we love in it, and the way they live on....

Stars

By Hannah Senesh

There are stars whose radiance is
visible on earth
though they have
long been extinct.

There are people whose brilliance
continues to light the world
though they are no
longer among us.

These lights are particularly
bright when the night is dark.

They light the way
for human kind.

Etched In Snow...

2007-12-22T00:05:00.000-05:00

Wishing you all the WONDERS of the season!

An Octagon Year!

2007-11-17T10:47:00.001-05:00

Just as a good glass of wine embodies an amazing array of elements -- time and place; vines and grapes; where, when and with whom we taste -- last month I had a wine experience so wonderful that I'm savoring it still...

What made it so great?

Recently, friends had asked what constitutes the peak wine and food experiences of a lifetime. And though I've dined my way around the world a few times, I could not crisply recall any deeply enjoyed food and wine as separate from people and places I love.

So it was with great memories and anticipation that I set off to celebrate my brother and sister-in-law's 15th anniversary at Barboursville Vineyards just north of Charlottesville, VA.

Even the weather was evocative: There had been just such brilliant foliage and strong wind at their wedding. And in ensuing years, we'd marked many milestones together as Scott and Pat started a family, settled on a farm and built the home of their dreams -- octagon-shaped, timber-framed, a tribute to local landscape, stone, wood, craftspeople and above all to Thomas Jefferson, whose Poplar Forest inspired the place.

Under their octagon atrium, out on their octagon porch, we've celebrated a lot of amazing times...with the most important of them featuring Barboursville Vineyards' Octagon Wine.

Shown above: Barboursville Vineyards, and Scott and Pat in its Octagon Room, where the wine spends 12 - 13 months in oak before being bottled.

Octagon is a wine that has come to define the Virginia viticultural region envisioned by Thomas Jefferson.

It derives its name from the centerpiece of the historic Barboursville Estate -- the great room that defines the mansion that Thomas Jefferson created for Governor James Barbour.

A Bordeaux-style blend based primarily on Merlot, with vibrant upnotes of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, Octagon is only produced in exceptional years.

We enjoyed the 2004 vintage with a sumptious three-course lunch at Barboursville's award-winning Palladio Restaurant.

It was silky and symphonic -- brilliantly garnet, intensely berried, well balanced and seductive, with the graceful beckon of full fruit, toasty oak, restrained tannin.

After many toasts, we toured the tank room and cellars with winemakers Luca Paschina and Francesco Baravalle -- seeing, smelling and tasting fresh-crushed Barboursville Merlot as well as batches that had come in a few days ago and were fermenting still.

Then Carter Nicholas treated us to tastes of Barboursville's excellent and Italian-styped Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Cabernet Reserve, Barbera, and Phileo dessert wine.

Finally,we loaded the car with a full case of Octagon -- set aside for future festivities -- and with a mixed case of everything else we'd enjoyed.

Thomas Jefferson -- whose “pursuit of happiness” campaign proclaimed that “No nation is drunk where wine is available,” and who spent a surprising amount of his presidential salary on imported Bordeaux -- would be proud.

We -- who drink Octagon with people we love, in places we love, for reasons we love -- are ecstatic....

It's going to be an Octagon year!

Learning Japanese

2007-10-11T00:28:00.000-04:00

Learning Japanese: Wine by Wine; One Fish at a Time...

I thought I knew sushi and sake: I knew I loved them!

I knew from age 16, when the Suyehiros served sushi and wine on New Year's Day, that wasabi got my attention, cleared my senses, chased my allergies away. That all other oenology terminology aside, the textures of these fish were silk, satin, velvet, slick. That something in the reverence of preparing and sharing this food and these wines struck a right chord in my soul and mind.

I won't insist I was the first to blend wasabi with mayonnaise. Or to drink warm sake before skiing. But maybe?

I do know I was an early adopter and big supporter of the first sushi restaurants in MD, DC, NYC.

Yet despite what I consider a rare intersect of spirit, science, art and indulgence, for a time, my development was arrested and found me...savoring sake too hot and once trying a Philadelphia roll -- the seaweed-wrapped cream cheese and lox).

Happily, I'm on the grow again, THANKS TO:

1) Shigeko Fuke's Japanese Culinary and Cultural Association of America dinner on September 19, at ONO, NYC, where artistry included pine needles made of noodles and some of the finest sushis, sashimis, dishes and wines I've tasted in a long time.

2) New York Mutual Trading Company's October 1 event at which I learned, from Michael-John Simkin, that sake can be served at temperatures ranging from sleet cold (mizorezake) and snow cold (yukihie) to body temp (hitohadakan) and much higher, but with flower-cold (hanahie; assciated with drinking sake under cherry blossoms in spring) and mildly cool (suzuhie) being best.

3)Sophia Gilliatt and our many meals, including, most recently, exquisite Kumamoto oysters at Raku II.

4) Harris Salat's Japanese Food Report, which is drilling down on the meaning of rice, even as I am branching out into biodiesel.

Giving Green Light...

2007-06-08T20:02:00.000-04:00

How GREEN can it get? Happily, VERY!

Designers Amelia Anon of Alt Technica and Natlie Jeremijenko of XDesign took the spirit of Haute Green to heart and earned our personal best-of-show with their Green Light -- a solar-powered light source, terrarium and air-filter all in one.

We're thanking their sense of style and responsibility for a concept this layered, healthy, bright and fun.

Sensing SPRING!

2007-03-20T14:40:00.000-04:00

Snow or no snow, the daffs and crocuses know: SPRING is here!

And here's to making the most of this and every season.

Warmly,
Wendy

Introducing...Biodiesel Babe!

2007-02-11T20:34:00.000-05:00

Biodiesel Babe was born the first time I brewed my own, in Oct. ’06, under the tutelage of Tom Herbert, up at Morse Pitts’ Windfall Farms.

Suddenly, this sometimes city girl who had moved to New York “so no one would ask her to cook or drive again” felt the drive again:

I wanted to drive tractors, trailers, trucks, a Jeta of my own, the renewable energies evolution and revolution, and more.

I scented home-brewed biodiesel with essences of lilac and sage; burned it in lamps, lanterns and a Hannukah menorah; studied the science, economics, political and environmental implications and more. I delved into education and practiced conservation.

And by the time a brief stint with Biodiesel America and their forthcoming Fields of Fuel (working title) feature doc took me to the National Biodiesel Conference, I was on top of the subject...and very much in love with it.

For proof, please stay tuned!

And please, if you have renewable energy hopes, dreams, stories, solutions...bring them here.

Biodiesel Babe is open!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and the Biodiesel Babes

The Power of Positive Drinking

2007-01-23T23:43:00.000-05:00

Friends,

I'm just back from the inaugural Wine Workout...with our own Erin Cronican shown here welcoming particpants in. The event was wonderful beyond words! The audience was as delicious as the wines. And we have already posted the evening's program online!

We started off with celebratory aperitifs...which some of us sipped through silly straws...accompanied by Chef Jake Klein's Asian-inspired hors d’oeuvres.

Frog’s Leap 2005 Sauvignon Blanc and 2003 von Schleinitz Koberner Weisenberg Riesling Spatlese.

David Rothenberg delighted us with jazzy clarinet impressions of these wines before we launched into a lovely discussion about them.

Wine Workout Round Two consisted of a Trader Joe’s 2004 Merlot, and a Calistoga Estate 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon -- a wine and winery I love so much that I've signed on as the New York brand manager.

This was followed by a Katie and David duet in which she played Merlot and he was Cab, and by a discussion not only of the wines, but also of the sensory pathways that wine takes to the brain, and of how memories are made, stored and retrieved.

Wine Workout Round Three was a Frog’s Leap 2004 Zinfandel and a BIBICh Riserva Red 2005, from Croatia...especially poignant because that is the birthplace of Zinfandel, and because these thriving vineyards are on former war-torn land, exemplifying the excellent work of Roots of Peace and its Mine into Vines program.

Our final Wine Workout round featured Sideral 2002 from Chile's Rapel Valley and Altair 2002 from Cachapoal, Chile -- both of them elegant Bordeux-like blend.

Best of all, none of our guests wanted the evening to end. So those of us that could lingered on, drank more and made new friends.

Clearly, people left happy. Because when Erin, Jerry Speier and I closed the place down, Anna, who was manning coat check, claimed that she had heard such great feedback about everything, that she wants to come to our next event.

There will be many! By taking our Senses Survey, you can help determine where and when they will be!

Meantime, we’re already using the line that Amelia Amon came up with to describe the Wine Workout process: The Power of Positive Drinking.

Here’s hoping thatyou’re drinking wine that you love, and that it brings you to your senses every time.

Warmly,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

The 1.23 Wine Workout!

2007-01-07T07:12:00.000-05:00

Friends,

This year, amongst huge gratitude for just being here, my New Year’s resolutions include increased winefulness -- which is to say, a deepened enjoyment and sharing of wine...and all else in life...in ways that enhance happiness, health, love and learning.

For every good reason, I’m hoping you'll join me!

For starters, we’d love to count you among the guests at our inaugural Wine Workout on January 23, 2007, from 6:30 - 9 pm at Pulse Restaurant in The Sports Club/LA at Rockefeller Center. The 1.23 Wine Workout will benefit Roots of Peace and their "Mines into Vines" program, which transforms former minefields into thriving farmland.

What is The Wine Workout? It's a vibrant new exercise that uses tasting wine to strengthen and train the senses and mind.

To the many proclaimed health benefits of moderate wine consumption -- lower blood pressure and cholesterol, reduced risks of heart attack, stroke, certain cancers and degenerative diseases among them -- The Wine Workout offers up a few more: Mindfully savoring wine becomes the practice that helps articulate the senses, define preferences and enhance how we create, integrate and reactivate memories. Plus, it is FUN!

Our 1.23 Wine Workout will be led by me; will showcase chef Jake Klein’s Asian-inspired fare; and will feature performance artist Katie Down of Glass Music, who will guide us in participatory Wine Glass Symphonies before and between Wine Workout rounds.

Celebratory aperitif and hors d’oeuvres will be followed by Glass Music Symphonies and by four sit-down rounds of compare-and-contrast Wine Workout tastings, designed to exercise the senses and mind.

Cost is $100 per person, inclusive of wine, food, music, materials, tax and tip.

Click here for full information and registration details.

Here's hoping to see you at our 1.23 Wine Workout, and here's wishing you a happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous New Year. May it abound with love and gladness beyond words and measure. And may it find us sharing many fine wines and times together!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

A Time of Winefulness....

2007-01-01T07:24:00.000-05:00

Looking back, 2006 was one of my most wineful times ever!

From ringing it in with Roederer while watching midnight runners and fireworks in Central Park to helping family best friends make lifelong dreams come true with the launch of Calistoga Estate, it was a great year!

Throughout, I continued to deepen my love and knowledge of wine and the senses...and of the ways in which they enhance each other.

Highlights included:

* Reconnecting with some of my favorite folks from the wine world...among them Dave Stare of Dry Creek Vineyards, Michaela Rodeno of St. Supery, John Williams of Frog’s Leap, Terry Theise, the families Deutsch and DuBoeuf , Phyllis and Marvin Stirman of Calistoga Estate, and more.

* Learning more than ever before about everything from the true taste of terroir to the multi-faceted magnificence that goes on in our bodies and minds when we savor wine in and with every sense.

* Building The Senses Bureau in order to deepen and share sensory experiences and all the understanding and joy that goes with them.

* Collaborating with Kevin Zraly to write a chapter on Smell for his 2007 Complete Wine Course.

* Creating The Wine Workout as a way to strengthen and train the senses and brain.

* Savoring a 1998 Eyrie Vineyards Willamette Valley Pinot Noir that Oregon winemaking pioneer David Lett had given me on my first visit to his vineyards.

* Sipping pink Champagne Pommery through a silly straw.

* Drinking to make a difference to countries like Israel and causes like Roots of Peace and SHARE.

* Celebrating major milestones and simple pleasures with family and friends.

Looking forward, I trust that 2007 will be even better!

Among other things, I’ve signed on as the New York Brand Manager for Calistoga Estate Vineyards, and will be working to make these wines a success in the tri-state area. We will be planting family vineyards on my brother and sister-in-law’s farm in rural Virginia, and finally beginning to make wines of our own.

Hopefully, I will be sharing some wonderful wines and times with you!

Here’s to your happiness and health in this New Year, and to hopefully having you join us at the inaugural Wine Workout on January 23.

Warmly,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Wishing You a Wondrous One!

2006-12-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

GREETINGS from the verge of a new year.

May it abound with love, light, health, hope, happiness and all that you hold dear.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Beaujolais Days

2006-12-16T06:48:00.000-05:00

Some of my fondest, freshest memories over the years are what I call my “Beaujolais Days.”

I was fresh from college and was running Friends of Wine magazine, when my first business trip in the wine world took me to Beaujolais, where I spent several days with the DuBoeuf family in Romaneche-Thorins, France.

This was wine as I had always wanted it to be -- earthy, exuberant, fruity and, most importantly, linked to family.

I spent every spare moment with Fabienne and Franck DuBoeuf, who were about my age -- comparing notes on work and life, cooking, talking, running through fields and vineyards with assorted dogs, looking at stars. But there were not that many spare moments.

By 7:30 am, when Georges claimed that our palates were at their most awake and astute, we would taste our way through Beaujolais -- visiting small family growers in the evocatively named villages of Saint-Amour, Juliènas, Chenas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. By midnight, we would wind down from delicious dinners with the likes of Paul Bocuse and others.

Of course, it was incumbent upon us to spit if we were to make it to breakfast okay. And Georges remains my best spitting mentor to this day.

And while intervening years in serial start-ups took me temporarily away from the wine world, Beaujolais was always close to my heart. I never failed to celebrate the fruity, young “nouveau” release on the third Thursday of November, or to line up and taste the “cru villages” when they are released each Spring...always feeling, as I taste, as if I am back in the vineyards, with all those families built in.

And so it was with pleasure beyond words that I attended the year’s Nouveau Beaujolais event at InTent Bar and Restaurant in NYC, connecting not only with Franck DuBoeuf, but also with the Deutsch family, which has been importing Les Vins Georges DuBoeuf since 1981, when my love of the wine, place and family first began.

This year’s 2006 Nouveau is crisp, fruity, quaffable -- a simple pleasure that makes not only for happy drinking, but that for me, enlivens favorite memories and enhances the making of new ones. Bring it on!

Theise Days: Doing and Drinking What You Love

2006-12-02T10:51:00.000-05:00

I loved when Richard Apple wrote in his July 19 New York Times column, “Austrian wines have a voice, and it’s excited.”

Terry Theise has been excited since I’ve known him.

We met back when I was running Friends of Wine and he was a graduate student enamored with wine.

We gave him his first writing assignments, and he changed the way I came to view writing. Terry never just turned in articles about wine. His articles beckoned readers into shared experiences...transmitting to them his love of place and people, his appreciation of art and life.

He went on to build a staggering portolio with Michael Skurnick Wines.

And in the process, he’s done more for German and Austrian wines and wine lovers than anyone I can imagine.

When I stepped away from the wine industry for a few decades, Terry’s was the voice I missed most.

So when The Senses Bureau brought me home again, I called him!

He was as deep and funny and passionate as ever. And he was coming to New York....

A lucky handful of us met at Chef/Owner Geoffrey Zakarian’s Country for a truffle-studded meal that included Champagne Gimonnet "Special Club" 1999 as aperitif; pumpkin gratin with Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese 2004 and Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spätlese 2004; seared sea scallops with René Geoffroy Champagne, 'Cuvée Volupté' NV and Vilmart & Cie Champagne 'Coeur de Cuvée' 1998; wood-roasted Berkshire pork with Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Steinertal Smaragd 2004, Nigl Riesling Kremser Kremsleiten 2005 and Paul Lehrner Blaufränkisch 'Steineiche' 2002; and a glorious selection of cheeses with Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Pittermännchen Riesling Auslese 2005 Dönnhoff Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Auslese 2005.

It was wonderful beyond words. Best yet, we laughed and learned as much as we ate and drank.

You’ll find Terry and I playing together in the “sensory sandbox” here in the months and seasons to come.

Meantime, his advice?

Drink what you love! Drill down deep on whatever red, white and sparkling varietals strike your fancy until you have a whole repertoire of variations on a theme.

Please your palate. But also be willing to surprise your senses: Stay open to those moments when your mind expects one thing, but experience delivers another.

This is what it's like to be awake, alive and loving what you do!

Terry Theise, THANK YOU! And to be continued....

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Giving of Thanks

2006-11-22T18:22:00.000-05:00

So much to be thankful for!

Here's wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving, and hoping that you ENJOY...in and with every sense!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Prosecco and Pearls

2006-11-16T23:52:00.000-05:00

Friends,

I had one of those ECSTATIC SHOPPING EXPERIENCES last week -- the kind that connected me more deeply to all of my senses (including my senses of wonder and well-being)...not to mention to the most amazing place, people, prosecco and pearls....

Bianca Zoie’s Pearls and Prosecco event took place at Pulse Restaurant, on the third floor of the Sports Club/LA, overlooking Rock Center and the skating rink and invigorated by the sight and sound of huge flags snapping in the brisk wind.

We sipped crisp Mionetto, Sergio and Il proseccos before and during Chef Jake Klein’s delicious dinner -- potato-leek soup, truffle-flecked risotto, fresh fruit with dark dipping chocolate.

Meantime, with the poise of a high priestess and the warmth of a best friend, designer Bianca Zoie shed light on her pearl and silver-based jewelry lines -- among them the brightly colored “Wildflowers,” transcendent “Points of Light,” delicate “Bridal Blessings,” exquisitely detailed “Miracle Boxes” and “Prayer Beads.”

For Bianca, the designs are a way of celebrating life in times of joy and of overcoming adversity in times of sadness. After recovering from a car accident and suffering a lightning fire in her rural Connecticut Studio just one year ago, Bianca's creative spirit -- with the emphasis on both creative and spirit -- has been reborn.

And it seems only fitting that her Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian pearl suppliers and silversmiths consider her an intuitive master of wabi-sabi -- the Zen/Oriental practice of creating intimate, authentic art from a reflective, soulful place.

Beyond just being magnificent, Bianca’s jewelry is imbued and suffused with meaning and spirit. It looks and feels fresh, sexy, silky, loving and alive...because, like her, IT IS!

POP Goes the Pommery!

2006-11-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

Preferred music to my ears? The pop of Champagne corks! It hits me with a pleasure-packed Pavlovian punch every time...causing decades of happy memories to bubble over their banks and dance out loud.

But sipping Champagne from pink splits through sexy straws for a good cause? Carrying my own animal-patterned art pack into the park on a stunning Autumn afternoon that also coincides with the Full Beaver Moon?

APPLAUSE and APPRECIATION to Champagne Pommery for making me and so many others HAPPY!

I first encountered Pommery’s POP Rose while eating and drinking for a favorite organization -- SHARE -- which provides all sorts of support services to women with breast and ovarian cancer. SHARE’s Second Helping of Life event was an exuberant walk-around tasting that paired a dazzling array of female chefs – from Ariane Daguin to Sara Jenkins, with such celebrity sous chefs as actress Tovah Feldshuh and radio host Valerie Smaldone.

The 187ml splits of Pommery POP Rose -- best sipped through long pink straws -- was beyond perfect. It was pink, practically spill proof, and the constant sound of popping corks added a festive air to the evening. Not to mention that the Champagne is DELICIOUS – generous, yeasty, with aromas and flavors reminiscent of an elegant custard tart topped with delicate red fruits. Plus, it was the ideal accompaniment for dishes that ranged from Anita Lo’s Kanpachi Sashimi with Lillies to Sarabeth Levine’s Warm Raspberry Bread Pudding.

I did not want the fun to end! So I prevailed upon Michelle Ponto of Talbert Communications to send me some!

I was ecstatic to receive a limited edition Champagne Pommery POP Art Safari collection that comes packaged in a see-though purse trimmed with faux zebra (pictured above). The art on the splits, by Japanese artist Takahiro Okawa, features boldly patterned animal skin backgrounds from which elegantly stylized animals -- in this case zebra, crocodile and giraffe -- leap forth. And yes, straws are included!

But this Champagne is so beautiful to look at that I can’t bear to break the foil, pop the corks and drink the spoils....Just yet.

So while I did take the POP pack into the park on a practice run, you’ll have to stay tuned for tasting notes. We will go on a POP Picnic Safari at some point soon, I promise.

Meantime, something about sipping elegant pink Champagne though silly straws has helped me to think and drink differently. Later in life, should my faculties fail, these memories will serve as smelling salts. And if I have to resort to drinking Champagne from sippy cups in my old age, so be it.

Until such time, I'll be doing all the Wine Workouts I can...for myself and for groups ranging from family and friends to senior centers...as a way to strengthen the senses, train the brain and ENJOY the process.

For now, I gaze upon the POP pack that graces my coffee table, give thanks, and look forward.

Warmly,
Wendy

Wine Smelling 101

2006-10-20T16:42:00.000-04:00

The 2007 Complete Wine Course is out. And in it is a chapter that Kevin Zraly and I co-authored on the incredible sense of SMELL, and how key smell is to our enjoyment of wine…and all else in life.

How does our sense of smell work? Why is it so evocative of emotion, so central to memory and so critical to happiness, health, learning and love?

How does smell vary across cultures and evolve and devolve over a lifetime?

How can we keep our sense of smell intact and alive longer, and use it more fully and joyously?

Kevin and I agree: One of the most pleasurable ways to train, strengthen and preserve our all-important sense of smell is through mindfully savoring wine.

For every good reason, we hope you will ENJOY Wine Smelling 101, and we hope you will smell wine with us sometime soon!

Warmly and looking forward,
Kevin and Wendy

Wendy's Wine Workout:Tastings to Train Senses & Brain

2006-10-16T21:40:00.000-04:00

The Power of Touch

2006-10-03T16:12:00.000-04:00

Hooray to Nivea for their Nivea Touches New York exhibit at 31 W. 19th Street in NYC through Oct. 14.

The interactive experience includes “Feel Your Way” and “Different Strokes” sculptures, “SkinScapes” photos, massage, many reasons to touch and be touched, and reminders that:

• Skin is our body's largest and most sensitive organ
• Each fingertip has more than 3,000 touch receptors
• The human hand contains 100,000 nerves

"TOUCH," says the exhibit, "is how we express love, comapassion, understanding and comfort. It is the physical manifestation of emotional closeness. Nivea exists so your skin can touch and be touched."

Now that's a brand we can feel good about!

Homegrown is a Good Thing!

2006-09-30T17:59:00.000-04:00

“I guess we’re legal now!,” said Willie Nelson, referring to the 21st annual Farm Aid concert and shown here playing “Homegrown” with Neil Young.

Since its founding in 1985 by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, Farm Aid has raised more than $27 million to support family farms, sustainable agriculture and healthy food systems.

This year’s concert in Camden, NJ was as educational as it was sensational -- spotlighting the important work of organizations like the National Family Farm Coalition and featuring performances by Willie, Neil, John, Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews and favorite acts ranging from Government Mule to Jerry Lee Lewis.

As but one proof point of the concert’s success? Catering giant Aramark served food from family farms throughout the Tweeter Center.

And if we are lucky? Next year, Farm Aid will come to New York City, where we will welcome it with open farms…and so much more!

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

2006-09-29T23:43:00.000-04:00

I was happy beyond words to be part of the New York City delegation that attended the 21st annual Farm Aid concert in Camden, NJ.

Festivities kicked off with a press conference that spotlighted the important work of local and global organizations like the Camden Community Farmer’s Market and World Hunger Year, and during which 2000 pounds of produce, gleaned from family farms that morning by local schoolchildren, was gifted to Philabundance for distribution to area shelters and food pantries.

Later, we danced to the music of Adrienne Young and bought copies of her albums "The Art of Virtue" and "Plow to the End of the Row" And as farmers Jim Robinson and Annie Farrell talked about the land that they love and described how they calculated which crops produced the best ROI, “inch by inch” took on whole new meaning for me.

Shiver me timbers and refresh my memory! This is why I love farmers and farming and math, and why I started FarmHands-CityHands 20 years ago....

Now, on with the SHOW!

Days of Awe

2006-09-26T11:48:00.000-04:00

THIS is my favorite time of year: According to Jewish custom, the Days of Awe, the period and between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is dedicated to reflection, repentance, renewal.

It is a time both celebratory (the apples and honey that symbolize sweetness and growth, with which we welcome in the New Year) and solemn (the Yom Kippur fast, the piercing sound of the shofar).

For me, the shofar is a homing signal -- calling me back to self and center in ways that are simple, primal, profound.

I am muchly moved by the Arstcroll Rosh Hashanah Machzor’s description:

“It is a primitive instrument, barely capable of modulating its tones or shifting notes. Can anyone play a symphony or even a song on a shofar? No....But it has a symbolism that we can comprehend.

It is like a bugle blowing reveille for a slumbering soul, saying, ‘Wake up, you sleepers, from your sleep, and you slumberers, rouse yourself from your slumber and return to God.’”

It is “the cry from the Jewish heart that says, ‘I belong here,’ and the echoing cry from God’s heart that says, ‘Yes, the door is open.’

It is the instrument that says that when no words are possible, no words are needed.”

Wherever you are, whatever you believe, I hope that the Days of Awe -- which also coincide with the New Moon and the Autumnal Equinox -- usher in an era of health, happiness, peace and prosperity for all.

Here’s wishing you goodness and gladness beyond words and measure. May these be the times that you treasure!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Autumn Arrives!

2006-09-23T00:03:00.000-04:00

"If your mind isn't clouded
by unnecessary things, THIS is the best season of your life."

-- Wu-men, 1183 - 1260

Reaching Global

2006-09-20T22:51:00.000-04:00

Having visited Israel several times and having worked in what ways I can to support her goals and to enhance her cultural and economic health, it pains me greatly to witness conflicts in the Middle East and to hear criticism of how this small country handles near-constant life-threatening attacks.

To paraphrase Immanuel Kant, “the hardest but most important thing is to hold two seemingly competing truths in mind simultaneously.”

To me, this seems to not only be the molecular structure that **TRUTH** most often comes in, but to be particularly apt to Israel and the Middle East almost always.

But back to basics: What can I do to make a difference?

I am MOVED by my cousins who are in Israel now, some of whom have returned to help in her hardest hours -- by Sharon, whose recent wedding was not postponed because of bombs; by Shaiel, who shares my multi-sensory love of the land; by his dad, Razi, who recently left the comfort of suburban Maryland to volunteer in the army yet again.

As for me? As is not surprising, many of my solutions over the years have including eating, drinking and shopping to make a difference -- from the Yarden, Golan Heights and Tishbi wines that I enjoy when I can to the Ahava (Hebrew for “love”) moisturizer that my skin has come to crave and the Israeli vine-ripened tomatoes that I happily buy whenever local varieties are out of season.

As with all else in my life, these and all forms of support (learning, giving, investing, going) never seem more important than NOW.

And I’m always glad to add to my arsenal....Which is why I was so happy to meet Marty Siegmeister of Allied Importers at the Paramount Brands tasting and to come upon the wines of Kinneret, whose vineyards are adjacent to Jerusalem.

Marty Siegmeister, pictured here with Mickey Green of Columbus Circle Wine and Liquor, and I discuss both the straightforwardness of Kinneret’s 2005 Muscat Hamburg -- naturally sweet with notes of roses and red berries -- and the complexities of Middle East politics.

Back home with a bottle of my own, I don’t just DRINK to the land(s) that I love: I think about the magnificence of time and place that one wine can contain. I educate myself a bit more about where this wine comes from and about what is going on there now. I get set for the Days of Awe,the Rabbi’s Rosh Hashanah sermon, and the shofar blasts that soon will follow. And as befits this period of reflection, repentence, renewal, I look back at what I’ve done, consider what more/different I can do, and resolve to do better.

And I toast: L’Chaim…to LIFE! To your/our happiness and health! And however we can attain and retain it, to PEACE, inside and out.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Drinking Local

2006-09-20T20:24:00.000-04:00

Like many things in my life, for me “Drinking Local” has many levels of meaning…and delight!

It means continuing to do much of my wining and dining downtown in the aftermath of 09.11 -- supporting the restaurants and restaurateurs who still suffer devastating losses, but who gain from the kind of community we have created.

It means following the wine trails of Long Island and The Hudson Valley -- getting to know growers and makers while savoring and supporting the best of local bounty.

It means stopping by Vintage New York whenever possible to enjoy the full array of New York State wines and foods.

And it means how WELL I know and love my local merchants.

How well do they know me?

Murray and Bob of Columbus Avenue Wine and Spirits have introduced me to new finds like Chilean Carmeneres and small-batch Bourbons, and have patiently helped me refine The Wine Workout from a cool concept to a life-enhancing practice. David Frieser of Beekman Liquors has done the same.

But 86th Corner Wine and Liquor? I would think they’d know me only as the wide-eyed, harried one who comes in just before closing time because friends are unexpectedly stopping by -- scooping up as much as I can safely carry of the best bargain I can find -- magnums of Citra Trebbiano D’Abruzzo for $6.99.

But that has changed over time. Like my neighborhood shoemaker and dry cleaner, Shon of 86th Corner shows me pictures of his kids. I know what he’s doing for the weekend, and am glad (for him at least) that the store is closed on Sunday.

But I’m sure, based on my purchasing patterns, that he’d never suspect that my daytime drinking has purpose.

All that changed last week, when on errands between bank and shoe repair, I calculated how much Citra I could carry home. There, at 86th Corner, to my surprise, were the folks from Prospero Winemaking Equipment, introducing their new line of wines.

So many multi-sensory memories came flooding back: How often I stopped by Pleasantville-based Prospero when starting Wine Enthusiast magazine to smell and taste the grapes they were flying in from California and, depending on the season, other ports of call. And Kevin Zraly, who hails from Pleasantville, who was the first wine star profiled in Wine Enthusiast, and with whom I’ve co-authored a chapter on smell for the 2007 Complete Wine Course, bought grapes from Prospero for his own home winemaking.

I catch up on news of the company with Tony Pullano, who married into the family and is helping head up Prospero’s new Supreme Wines division.

We do that tribal dance thing as we taste through a crisp, bright Prospero Pinot Grigio from Sonoma, a rich Cinelli Columbini Rosso di Montalcino and other gems.

My 86th Corner excurision on that day gets added to the ever-growing list of "ecstatic shopping experiences" (stay tuned for inspiring examples). And as would happen naturally in the ‘hood, but now accelerated with fresh starter fuel, Shon (seen above in Wine Workout pose) and I come to know a bit more about each other.

All is well with the world....

And inquiring minds want to know: What does "Drinking Local" mean to you? And is it something we can do together?

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Daytime Drinking:Swirl, Sniff, Taste, SPIT!

2006-09-19T23:37:00.000-04:00

It’s my favorite time of year! Scents of pine and Fall flowers fill the air. Kids are back to school. And the Big Boys are doing their tastings for the trade.

WooHoo! Daytime Drinking takes on added urgency and legitimacy as I put on my tasting shoes and wend my way from Martin Scott Wines and Wines of Germany to Winebow, House of Burgundy, Charmer, Wines of Spain.

And while years away from the industry have done nothing to dull my senses, somehow my spitting techniques -- first learned in the sawdust-strewn cellars of Burgundy (remind me to show you THOSE shoes) -- have all but disappeared.

This is quite the cause for conversation at the Demdechant Werner’sches Weingut table, where the spit bucket is nearly full by the time I approach. This means that to spit with anything less than laser-like accuracy risks splashback.

Fortunately, the wine is white, people are polite, and the stakes are not nearly as high as they will be when I head for red. I gratefully swallow the honeyed 2005 Hochheimer Holle Riesling Spatlese, while importer Eric Litchfield declares Georges DuBoeuf to be the best spitter he’s ever met.

I can wholeheartedly second the motion. Georges and I would start tasting at 7:30 a.m. in the charming villages of Beaujolais in my Friends of Wine days. It was incumbent upon us to spit efficiently if we were going to make it to breakfast okay.

Frank Johnson casts his vote for Alexis Bespaloff, who he claims had such power and aim that he could spit the buttons off a sports jacket (or something like that). Howard Goldberg takes the praise one step further: "He could kill an ant at 40 paces."

I’m just hoping not to stain the front of my shirt and skirt…or worse yet, to spurt on others -- most of whom are now standing back from the spit buckets when I come close.

“Nice style,” I say to Minet Aberk, pictured above. “Good eye,” she compliments me back. (Because clearly, there’s not much positive she can say about my spitting.)

With high season upon us, I vow to do a bit of target practice. Perhaps with water or watermelon seeds and a sippy cup? Perhaps extending The Wine Workout repertoire by adding "Spitting Lessons" and "Spitting Contests?" Maybe even pitching a special chapter on "Spitting" for the 2007 version of Kevin Zraly's Complete Wine Course, in which Kevin and I co-authored a special chapter on smell? I will keep you posted.

Meantime, please take our Senses Survey: As a spitter, how would you rate yourself:

A) Drinker
B) Drooler
C) Dribbler
D) Pro

Inquiring minds want to know!

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

A Home in My Heart

2006-09-16T22:32:00.000-04:00

We thank goodness for Irene Hardwicke Olivieri and her awesome exhibit at ACA Galleries.

THIS is ART!

Celebrating Greenmarket

2006-09-16T18:30:00.000-04:00

Happy 30th Anniversary to Greenmarket!

THANK YOU to Bob Lewis and Barry Benepe for founding it and for adding so richly to the fabric of our city; the preservation of surrounding farmland; the diversity, healthfulness and deliciousness of our food.

To me, it is the best~est part of New York...and the inspiration for FarmHands-CityHands and my favorite creations!

For every good, green and growing reason, I’d love to learn how Manhattan's vast farmers' market system has enriched your life!

With admiration and appreciation,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Dining to Make a Difference

2006-09-11T10:11:00.000-04:00

Dining to Make a Difference grew out of a lifelong commitment to food that feeds more than just hunger, but that also invites and sings to the senses, is enjoyed in good company and health, and that nurtures the people who grow and prepare it as well as the earth itself.

In the aftermath of 9.11.01, this personal commitment took on new meaning. Starting in October 2001 and continuing still, beginning at Ground Zero and fanning out from there, Dining to Make a Difference has hosted happy hours, dinners and events at many of downtown's hardest hit restaurants. In the process, an ever-growing group of NYC residents and visitors has done much to strengthen community, rebuild downtown's economy and restaurant industry and raise awareness and funds for selected charities.

Five years later, the needs and opportunities remain as great as ever. Profound impacts stem from such everyday acts as where, when and how we eat.

Now, more than ever, we encourage you to visit the NYC downtown venues that so need, deserve and appreciate your support.

And we invite you to support such programs as:

Dining for Darfur
A Growing Concern
Greenmarket's 30th Anniversary
Share our Strength's "Restaurants for Relief" Katrina Campaign

Warmly and with thanks,

Wendy and The Senses Bureau

In the Greening Garden of...Pizza!

2006-08-06T10:23:00.000-04:00

Once, while leading a FarmHands-CityHands tour through Betsey Ryder’s beautiful production garden, I asked a group of inner-city kids if they could identify the herb we were passing around. Rapt, they inhaled the aromas released when they crushed the leaves with their fingers.

One young man raised his hand. Did he know which herb this was? “Yes!” he shouted enthusiastically. “It’s pizza!”

“No. It’s oregano. But it’s used on pizza.”

And so began a delightful sensory tour of farm and garden that included savoring countless shades of green, listening to growers, walking rows, picking plants, crushing leaves, smelling, tasting, feeling, naming…and learning, first-hand, what does and doesn’t grow on trees.

We were treated to cool mint, rosemary, oregano, two colors of basil, three kinds of thyme, and so much more. And THEN we had pizza, topped with all these fresh hand-picked herbs...some of which were at first vaguely familiar to our group, many of which were newly recognized, and all of which were now savored in every sense and experienced by both sides of the brain (the right side of which forms and processes impressions; the left side of which analyzes and names).

It’s the kind of tour that I think we all should be taking more of these days.

And fortunately, we can! In so many ways.

For starters, in New York City, there are:

* Greenmarkets, now celebrating their 30th anniversary
* Newly launched Real Food Markets
* Waldy’s Wood Fired, where you can snip your own fresh-grown herbs onto penne and pizza

Wherever you are, you can:

* Find and share local resources
* Support local farms and pick-you-own programs
* Grow your own...be it in backyard, window box, in kitchen or on desktop
* Stay tuned to The Senses Report where you can learn, among other things, how and why Tasting WINE can be one of the best sensory training grounds of all!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, The Senses Bureau

New Laps of Luxury

2006-07-16T10:17:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the new luxury! It’s less about what we have and where we are than about how we use and enjoy it and who we’re enjoying it with.

As a favorite old saw from the food and wine biz says, “It’s not just what’s on the table, it’s what’s on the chairs that counts.”

In eating, drinking, exercising, traveling, relaxing, here’s wishing you and yours happiness, health, peace and hope…the greatest luxuries of all.

Linked to Linden:A Fragrance Takes Heart

2006-06-08T16:39:00.000-04:00

Several Springs ago, after a particularly strenuous set of meetings, I emerged, exhausted, from the nearest subway to a scent reminiscent of....

Reminiscent of something I could not quite account for, but that was powerful and profound beyond words.

Without thinking, I followed my nose across the street and into the park, where I stood under the trees in question and reeled with joy and relief. Stress dissolved while waves of well-being and wonder washed over me. It was as if an abacus-of-the-emotions began recounting -- or rather, reliving -- every encounter with this fragrance from pre-verbal to most recent. Clearly, this was the tree that bloomed behind an old boyfriend’s country house. But it was also so much more.

Determined to know what and why, I returned to the park with my Smithsonian Handbook of Trees guide...and identified…American Linden! Aha! The French use linden flowers (also known as lime blossoms) to make tilleul, a soothing tea that, accompanied by a madeleine, launched Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past.

Being less prolific and more consumer-oriented, I proceeded directly to Whole Foods to purchase linden leaf tea and Provence Sante’s pure linden perfume. Subsequently, a fragrance counter sniff test at Saks yielded the info I sought: Linden is an active ingredient in Evyan's White Shoulders, a perfume my mother and grandmother had worn from my earliest days.

And an olfactory lesson that this winetaster had always known was driven deeper home: No sense travels more quickly or directly to our memories and emotions than smell, which bypasses the reasoning part of the brain and heads straight to the limbic system.

Much more on the sense of smell, how it works, and why it’s key to happiness, health, learning and love can be found at Coming to Your Senses, in upcoming Senses Report posts, and in an olfaction chapter I co-authored with Kevin Zraly for The Complete Wine Course, to be released by Sterling this September.

For now, the linden trees are in bloom! I encourage you to stand beneath them and BREATHE. And I hope you will fill your days and nights with aromas that keep your memories and desires alive.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau