At Creation, we believe that innovation flourishes when passionate experts share their knowledge with our team, and this philosophy recently came alive in vivid detail during a transformative workshop led by MarÃa ‘Laura’ Ortiz, an internationally renowned sommelier and luxury wine strategist whose expertise spans over two decades across three continents.
About Laura: A Master of Sensory Excellence
Laura brings an extraordinary depth of knowledge to everything she touches. As the founder of Winifera and Winelux, she has dedicated her career to exploring the intricate relationship between wine, luxury, and sensory experience. Her impressive credentials include certifications from the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and the Court of Master Sommeliers. Currently serving as Academy Chair at The World’s Best Vineyards and as the Latin American Ambassador for the Golden Vines Awards, Laura has established herself as a leading voice in the global wine community.
Beyond her technical expertise, Laura embodies the spirit of knowledge sharing that we cherish at Creation. As Executive Director of Global Women of Wine and co-founder of Club de Mujeres del Vino, she actively mentors the next generation of wine professionals while pushing boundaries in luxury brand management and sustainable practices.
When Guests Become Innovators
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Laura for generously sharing her expertise with our Creation team. Her willingness to contribute to our collective growth exemplifies how our guests often become integral parts of the innovation process at Creation. Rather than simply passing through, visionary individuals like Laura invest their time and knowledge to elevate our understanding and capabilities.
This collaborative approach has become a cornerstone of our culture. When industry leaders share their insights with our team, it creates a ripple effect of learning that ultimately benefits everyone who experiences Creation. Laura’s workshop perfectly demonstrated this principle, transforming what could have been a simple tasting into a profound educational journey.
The Revelation of Aroma: A Critical Sense Awakened
Laura’s workshop opened our team’s eyes to the profound impact that aroma has on memory and overall sensory experience. Through her guided exploration, we discovered that smell represents far more than a pleasant addition to wine appreciation; it serves as a direct pathway to memory, emotion, and understanding.
Her expertise illuminated a fascinating paradox about human olfaction: while our sense of smell operates as a powerful early warning system, alerting us immediately to potentially dangerous substances, we often remain unconscious of the subtle aromatic information constantly surrounding us. This selective awareness means that unless an aroma signals danger, we typically process these sensory inputs without conscious recognition.
Deconstructing the Aromatic Pyramid
One of the most enlightening aspects of Laura’s workshop was her detailed exploration of fragrance architecture through the classic perfume pyramid structure. She guided us through the three distinct layers: top notes, heart (or middle) notes, and base notes, revealing how each level contributes to the complete aromatic experience.
Laura demonstrated the volatile nature of top notes, using citrus and ginger as perfect examples of delicate, ephemeral scents that create immediate impact but disappear quickly. These fleeting aromas dance at the surface of our consciousness before yielding to the more substantial middle notes. In fascinating contrast, she showed us how certain aromatic oils such as patchouli possess the remarkable ability to span the entire pyramid spectrum, weaving through all three levels with different facets of their complex character.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Laura revealed that perfumers begin their craft by establishing the base notes – the deep, lasting foundation that will anchor the entire composition. Rather than building from light to heavy, master perfumers construct their aromatic architecture from the ground up, layering the heart notes and finally the ethereal top notes onto these strong, enduring foundations. This approach ensures that as the volatile top notes fade, the fragrance continues to tell its story through the more persistent base elements.
The Elusive Complexity of Natural Scents
Laura’s expertise truly shone when she discussed the extraordinary challenge of reconstructing natural aromas, as there is an almost incomprehensible level of complexity even in what we perceive as simple scents. There’s far more to capturing the essence of a rose, for example, than identifying its obvious floral characteristics. The most challenging and elusive component, she revealed, is the oxidative element – that final, subtle note that completes the authentic aroma of a rose, transforming it from a mere collection of floral compounds into the true, recognisable essence we instinctively know.
She revealed that potentially 900 aromatic compounds can be found in a single Chardonnay wine, yet when we write tasting notes, we typically describe wines using only about 10 words.
This enormous gap between aromatic reality and our descriptive vocabulary illustrates why developing our sensory awareness requires such patience and dedication. Our minds must learn to parse hundreds of simultaneous aromatic signals and translate them into meaningful, communicable descriptions.
This revelation highlighted why the artistry of perfumers and winemakers in managing such complexity deserves our deepest appreciation.
The Secret Language of Molecular Vibrations
Perhaps the most groundbreaking insight Laura shared was the concept that not all aromas are created equal – their power to affect us depends entirely on the unique vibrations they carry. Each aromatic molecule vibrates at specific frequencies, much like musical notes, and our noses may actually be ‘listening’ to these molecular vibrations rather than simply detecting molecular shapes.
This revolutionary understanding suggests that our olfactory receptors function like tiny biological spectrometers, detecting the vibrational signatures of molecules. When we smell a rose, we’re not just recognising its molecular structure, we’re perceiving its unique vibrational frequency, a kind of aromatic fingerprint that our brain interprets as ‘rose’.
The evidence for this vibrational theory comes from fascinating experiments where scientists replaced regular hydrogen atoms in scent molecules with deuterium (a heavier form of hydrogen). Whilst these molecules remained identical in shape, their vibrations changed dramatically, and so did their smell. A musk molecule that usually smells musky takes on overtones of burnt candle wax when its vibrations are altered in this way.
This means that when Laura trained us to become more aware of aromas, she was essentially teaching us to tune into the vibrational symphony constantly playing around us. Each scent carries its own frequency, its own energetic signature, which explains why certain aromas can transport us instantly to specific memories or emotional states: they’re literally resonating with our consciousness at a quantum level.
The Calcium Connection: We Are Living Vibrations
Laura’s exploration of vibration extended beyond individual molecules to encompass our very essence as living beings. She revealed a profound truth: that calcium, the mineral essential to all living things, forms the foundation of our biological existence. From the structure of our bones to the firing of our neurons, calcium orchestrates the fundamental processes that sustain life.
In Laura’s elegant explanation, we humans are essentially living vibrations of calcium. This mineral doesn’t merely provide structural support, it acts as a conductor in the symphony of life, enabling nerve transmission, muscle contraction, and cellular communication. Every heartbeat, every thought, every sensory experience involves calcium ions moving through our bodies in precise, rhythmic patterns.
This understanding transformed our perception of the aromatic experience itself. When we encounter a scent, we’re not just passive receivers, we’re vibrational beings resonating with the vibrational signatures of aromatic molecules. Our calcium-based nervous system translates these molecular frequencies into the rich tapestry of smell, creating a bridge between the vibrational world of molecules and our own vibrational consciousness.
Laura’s insight connected the dots between the external vibrational world of aromas and our internal vibrational nature, revealing smell as a form of vibrational communication between living systems.
Seasonal Aromatics: Wisdom Beyond the Kitchen
One of Laura’s most practical and enlightening teachings centred on how we instinctively adapt our aromatic preferences to match the seasons – a wisdom that extends far beyond our culinary choices into the realm of perfumery. Just as we naturally crave lighter, cooling foods in summer and warming, hearty dishes in winter, our olfactory desires follow similar patterns rooted in ancient wisdom.
During the warmer months, Laura explained, our bodies and spirits naturally gravitate towards fresher, cooler aromatic notes. We seek the solar and tropical essences that complement the season’s energy – bright citrus oils, fresh herbs, and light floral notes that provide a sense of cooling refreshment. These summer aromatics work with our body’s natural cooling mechanisms, offering the energetic equivalent of a cool breeze on a hot day.
Winter, however, calls for an entirely different vocabulary of aromas. As temperatures drop and daylight diminishes, we instinctively reach for warming, spicy notes that generate internal heat and comfort. Laura highlighted the classical warming spices: star anise with its distinctive liquorice warmth, cinnamon’s sweet heat, the complex spiciness of allspice, the delicate intensity of mace, and nutmeg’s deep, warming embrace. These aromatics don’t just smell warming, they also stimulate circulation and create a warming physiological response.
The Ayurvedic Connection: Beyond Food to Fragrance
Laura’s most profound insight was connecting this seasonal aromatic wisdom to Ayurvedic principles, suggesting that we should consider these ancient teachings not only in our food choices but also in our perfume and aromatic selections. Just as Ayurveda recognises that different seasons require different dietary approaches to maintain balance, our aromatic environment should similarly shift to support our body’s changing needs throughout the year.
This represents a revolutionary approach to personal fragrance: moving beyond simply choosing scents we find pleasant to selecting aromatics that support our physiological and energetic wellbeing. In summer, we might choose perfumes rich in cooling mint, refreshing bergamot, or tropical jasmine. Winter calls for fragrances built around warming cardamom, grounding sandalwood, or the deep heat of clove and cinnamon.
This seasonal awareness of aromatics transforms perfume from mere personal adornment into a tool for wellness, aligning our scent choices with nature’s rhythms and our body’s seasonal needs.
Cultural Aromatics: The Linguistic Paradox of Perception
Perhaps Laura’s most thought-provoking insight delved into the cultural linguistics of aroma perception. She illuminated this concept with a striking example: in the northernmost regions of Norway, there exist over 400 distinct descriptions for white, each providing precise detail about snow conditions that could impact one’s survival in harsh Arctic weather. What describes ‘white’ in South Africa – perhaps the brilliant, sun-bleached white of limestone or sand – bears little resemblance to the nuanced whites of Norwegian snow that signal danger, safety, or changing weather patterns.
This linguistic paradox extends profoundly into the world of aromatics. Cultural context shapes not only how we describe scents but also how we fundamentally perceive and categorise them. Laura highlighted this through her discussion of established aroma wheels, such as the Chenin South Africa aroma wheel and various Asian aroma wheels, each reflecting the unique sensory vocabulary of their respective cultures.
The South African Chenin aroma wheel, developed through extensive research by Stellenbosch University using sensory evaluation of over 3,000 wines, initially reflected a typically European aromatic vocabulary. However, in a groundbreaking 2022 initiative, it was reimagined by consulting Shona, isiZulu, and isiXhosa speakers who translated terminology using indigenous taste and aroma references. This transformation revealed how dramatically cultural perspective influences aromatic perception: what resonates as familiar and meaningful varies entirely based on one’s cultural aromatic memory bank.
Similarly, Asian aromatic traditions approach scent classification through fundamentally different lenses. Where Western cultures typically describe aromas by naming them after familiar objects (lemon, fruity, flowery, spicy), Asian cultures often perceive and classify scents more aesthetically or subjectively – sometimes even describing them as qualities ‘assessed by man or god’. A hypothetical Asian whisky wheel might include umami, soy, and multiple subcategories of spices that would be meaningless to palates unfamiliar with these flavour references.
Creating Your Personal Aromatic Language
Laura’s revolutionary recommendation was that we should create our own personalised aroma wheels – aromatic vocabularies that reflect our individual cultural backgrounds, memories, and sensory experiences. Just as Norwegian snow-whites have no relevance to South African weather conditions, standardised aroma wheels may fail to capture the aromatic associations that resonate most powerfully with our personal sensory memories.
This approach acknowledges that our ‘aroma memory banks’, as Laura described them, are built from our unique origins and experiences. The lavender that reminds one person of their grandmother’s garden might evoke completely different associations for someone who first encountered it in a spa or cleaning product. By developing our own aromatic vocabulary, we create more accurate and meaningful ways to understand and communicate our sensory experiences.
This personalised approach to aromatic understanding represents a democratisation of scent appreciation, moving beyond expert-dictated terminology to embrace the authenticity of individual perception and cultural context.
The Critical Impact of Ripeness on Aroma Profiles
Laura’s expertise revealed another fascinating dimension of aromatic complexity: how the timing of harvest dramatically transforms the aromatic character of the same fruit. This principle applies beautifully to grapes, where the moment of picking determines not just sugar levels, but entirely different aromatic expressions.
Grapes can be picked at various stages of ripeness to create completely different products, each with its unique aromatic signature:
Verjuice: Made from unripe grapes, offering sharp, acidic notes with green, herbaceous aromatics
Cap Classique (sparkling wine): Requires grapes picked early for high acidity, preserving bright, crisp aromatic profiles
Table wines: Picked at optimal ripeness when aromatic compounds have developed their characteristic varietal expressions
Late Harvest: Grapes left on the vine 1-2 months beyond normal harvest time develop concentrated, honeyed aromatics with complex caramelised notes
This same principle applies to spices like pepper, where all the familiar types we know come from the same plant (Piper nigrum) but are harvested at different stages of ripeness and processed differently:
Green peppercorns: Harvested unripe, offering fresh, herbaceous notes with bright spiciness
Black peppercorns: Made from still-green, unripe drupes that are cooked and dried, developing complex, warming aromatics through the drying process
White peppercorns: Come from fully ripe red berries with the skin removed, creating earthier, more mellow aromatic profiles
Red peppercorns: Picked when fully ripe – representing ‘pepper’s late harvest’ – offering sweet, almost raisin-like notes with gentle heat
This demonstrates how the same plant can yield dramatically different aromatic experiences based solely on harvest timing and processing methods.
The Winemaker’s Aromatic Palette: Lees and Skin Contact
Laura’s expertise in wine naturally led our discussion into the technical artistry of how winemakers can manipulate aromatic profiles through specific production techniques. She explained two fundamental methods that dramatically influence the final aromatic character of wines: lees contact and skin contact, each offering distinct pathways to aromatic complexity.
Lees contact, she explained, involves allowing the wine to remain in contact with the dead yeast cells (lees) after fermentation has completed. This technique adds remarkable textural richness and aromatic depth to wines. The lees contribute creamy, biscuity, brioche-like aromas while creating a fuller, more substantial mouthfeel. Laura explained how this process essentially allows the wine to ‘feed’ on the decomposing yeast cells, extracting compounds that add layers of savoury complexity – those coveted notes of fresh bread, nuts, and cream that distinguish premium wines from their simpler counterparts.
A Chardonnay treated with extended lees contact, for example, completely transforms its aromatic personality from fresh and fruity to complex and textured – demonstrating how winemaking techniques can create entirely new aromatic expressions from the same grape variety.
Skin contact, particularly revolutionary in white winemaking, involves leaving the grape juice in contact with the grape skins for extended periods before fermentation. Laura highlighted how this technique, once reserved primarily for red wines, has become a powerful tool for white wine expression. The skins contain a treasury of aromatic compounds, tannins, and phenolic substances that would otherwise be lost in immediate pressing. Through controlled skin contact, winemakers can extract these elements, creating white wines with enhanced aromatic intensity, deeper colour, and more complex flavour profiles.
Laura emphasised how these techniques represent the winemaker’s ability to sculpt aromatic profiles deliberately. A Chardonnay treated with extended lees contact might develop honeyed, nutty complexity that completely transforms its aromatic personality from fresh and fruity to rich and textured. Similarly, skin contact can elevate a simple white wine into something with the aromatic depth and complexity traditionally associated with more premium expressions.
Fermentation’s Aromatic Influence: A Live Experiment
Building on Laura’s teachings about winemaking techniques, we had the opportunity to explore another crucial aromatic variable: fermentation methods. Later, at our table, we conducted a fascinating comparative tasting of two wines from the same vineyard: one crafted using a combination of neutral Champagne yeasts and natural fermentation, the other made with 100% natural fermentation.
The aromatic differences were immediately apparent and striking. The wine with neutral Champagne yeasts displayed cleaner, more controlled aromatic expressions, precise and refined, allowing the pure fruit characteristics to shine through with crystalline clarity. In contrast, the 100% natural fermentation wine revealed a more complex, sometimes unpredictable aromatic landscape, with earthy complexity, and subtle notes that spoke of the wild yeasts’ influence on the wine’s development.
This live comparison perfectly demonstrated Laura’s point about winemakers as aromatic artists. Even with identical grapes from the same vineyard, harvested at the same time, the choice of fermentation method created two completely different aromatic experiences. The controlled environment of Champagne yeasts produced one aromatic story, while the wild, natural fermentation allowed the terroir’s indigenous microbiology to tell an entirely different tale.
This discussion revealed how aromatics in wine are not merely the passive result of grape variety and terroir, but the active creation of skilled artisans who understand how to coax specific aromatic compounds from their raw materials through deliberate technical choices – from harvest timing and skin contact to lees management and fermentation methods.
The Gateway to Memory: How Aromatics Reach Our Brain
Laura’s exploration of aromatic perception led us to one of the most remarkable aspects of human neurobiology: the direct pathway that aromatic molecules take from our external environment to our most primal emotional and memory centres. She explained how these tiny molecular messengers penetrate through a small perforated plate in our skull to create what she calls ‘aroma maps’ in our mind, forever linking scents to our deepest memories.
The journey begins when aromatic molecules travel through our nostrils and encounter specialised olfactory receptor cells in the upper part of our nasal cavity. Each of these remarkable cells acts as both a detector and a transmitter, capturing specific molecular signatures and converting them into electrical signals. What makes this system extraordinary is its direct route to the brain: the axons from these receptor cells pass through tiny holes in the cribriform plate (a delicate, sponge-like bone that separates our nasal cavity from our brain).
This cribriform plate, Laura explained, represents one of the most vulnerable yet vital gateways in our anatomy. Through its numerous small perforations, bundled nerve fibres carry aromatic information directly to the olfactory bulb, which sits at the base of our brain. From there, the signals make an immediate connection to our limbic system – the ancient brain regions governing emotion and memory, including the amygdala and hippocampus.
What makes olfaction uniquely powerful among our senses is this direct neural highway. Unlike sight, sound or touch, which the thalamus must first process before reaching emotional and memory centres, aromatic information takes an express route. As Laura described it, our olfactory system appears to have ‘evolved to hardwire information directly to these memory and emotion centres’, creating what she termed our personal ‘aroma maps’.
These aroma maps function as intricate neural networks where specific scents become permanently linked to emotional experiences, people, places, and moments in time. When we encounter a familiar aroma, it doesn’t just register as a pleasant or unpleasant smell, it instantly activates the entire neural network associated with that scent, flooding our consciousness with vivid memories and their accompanying emotions. This is why a whiff of a particular perfume can instantly transport us to our grandmother’s embrace, or the scent of baking bread can evoke powerful memories of our childhood kitchens.
Laura emphasised that these aroma maps are uniquely personal, shaped by our individual experiences and cultural contexts. They represent some of our most enduring and emotionally charged memories, often formed in early childhood when our olfactory system is most impressionable and before our other senses fully mature.
The Professional Secret: Smelling the Empty Glass
Building on her explanation of how aromatics create lasting impressions in our memory, Laura introduced us to one of the most revealing techniques in professional wine evaluation: smelling the empty glass after the wine has been consumed or poured out. This practice, which she described as experiencing the ‘second nose’ or the ‘ghost’ of the wine, provides unique insights into both wine quality and character that are impossible to detect while the wine is present.
Laura explained the fascinating science behind this technique. After the wine is gone, the thin film left on the sides of the glass and the small droplets at the bottom hold concentrated aromatic compounds. With much of the alcohol and more volatile elements having evaporated, the remaining less volatile aromas – often tertiary notes such as wood, spice, caramel, and earthy elements – become more identifiable and concentrated. It’s as if the glass becomes a concentrated aromatic time capsule, revealing the wine’s deeper personality.
Some of the most subtle and complex aromas, Laura demonstrated, only become apparent in the empty glass because the more intense primary and secondary aromas – fruits and florals – are gone or greatly reduced. Background scents from barrel ageing, such as smoked wood, caramel, vanilla or liquorice, suddenly step forward to tell their story without competition from the wine’s more obvious characteristics.
Laura emphasised that the length, depth, and complexity of lingering aromas in an empty glass often serve as indicators of wine quality. A complex layered aroma that persists after the wine is gone typically signals a higher-quality, well-crafted wine with depth and character. In contrast, a ‘flat’ scent that quickly dissipates suggests a simpler wine or possibly one that lacks complexity and craftsmanship.
Beyond revealing quality, Laura taught us that this technique can help detect wine faults that might be masked by the wine’s primary characteristics. Flaws including cork taint (wet cardboard aromas), excessive volatile acidity, or reduction (sulphur or rotten egg notes) often become more pronounced and easier to identify when smelling an empty glass, freed from the wine’s fruit-forward distractions.
Laura noted that while this method is highly subjective, it’s widely used among professionals and enthusiasts alike. She described it as ‘highly recommended and fun’, particularly valuable for learning to identify more nuanced aromatics that contribute to a wine’s overall character and quality assessment.
This technique perfectly exemplified Laura’s broader teaching about aromatic awareness: that by paying attention to the subtler, often overlooked aromatic information around us, we can gain deeper insights into quality, authenticity and craftsmanship – whether in wine, perfume, or any aromatic experience.
The Dance of Distance: Understanding Aromatic Proximity
One of Laura’s most fascinating demonstrations revealed how the simple act of varying our distance from a perfume swatch creates an entirely different aromatic experience. This concept of aromatic proximity evolves as we begin to understand how scent molecules behave in three-dimensional space around vessels and dishes.
Holding a glass of wine at arm’s length, then gradually bringing it closer to our noses, pausing at different distances to observe how the aromatic intensity and character changed, we experienced a remarkable transformation. At greater distances, we perceived only the most volatile, powerful aromatics – those bold, obvious scents that could travel furthest from their source. As we brought the glass progressively closer, new layers of complexity emerged.
Cutting-edge research from the Institute of Science Tokyo (formerly Tokyo Medical and Dental University) explains the science behind this phenomenon. Scientists discovered that at optimal serving temperature, alcohol concentration in wine glasses created a fascinating ‘ring phenomenon’ where ‘the alcohol concentration in the centre of the wine glass was lower than that around the rim’, allowing us to ‘enjoy the wine aroma without interference of gaseous ethanol’. This means that the position of our nose relative to the glass can access different aromatic zones within this vapour distribution. The closer the nose is to the wine, even right inside the glass, the greater chances of aromatics being captured.Â
When we position our noses directly above the wine’s surface, we can detect the most delicate, subtle aromatics that would never reach us at greater distances. These whisper-quiet scents often represent the wine’s most sophisticated characteristics – the tertiary aromatics from ageing, the nuanced notes from specific vineyard sites, or the subtle integration of oak and fruit that distinguishes exceptional wines from merely good ones.
At middle distances we encounter the ‘conversational zone’ of aromatics – those scents that are assertive enough to travel but not so dominant that they overwhelm the delicate companions surrounding them. This distance often provides the most balanced aromatic impression, where primary fruit characteristics blend harmoniously with secondary fermentation notes.
Wine aroma is often described as layered, and doesn’t wine seem more complex when your nose is buried deep in the glass? The principle of aromatic proximity extends far beyond wine glasses – to appreciating food aromas, perfumes, and even the natural scents of flowers or herbs. Each aromatic source creates its own three-dimensional scent landscape, with different information available at different proximities.
The practical implications for both professional and casual wine appreciation are profound. Each glass should be approached with intentional distance variation – first capturing the broad aromatic impression from a comfortable distance, then gradually moving closer to discover the hidden aromatic treasures that only reveal themselves to those who know to look for them. This technique transforms wine tasting from a simple sensory exercise into a sophisticated exploration of spatial aromatics.
Perhaps most importantly, Laura’s lesson on aromatic proximity revealed how much aromatic information we typically miss in our daily lives simply because we don’t vary our distance from scent sources. By understanding that aromatic complexity exists in layers through space, we can train ourselves to be more complete aromatic observers, whether we’re evaluating wine, appreciating food, or simply becoming more aware of the rich scent landscape that constantly surrounds us.
The Art of Aromatic Sequencing: Intensity as the Key to Appreciation
Our final revelation from Laura’s workshop came through direct experimentation – a hands-on discovery that transformed our understanding of the practical application of aromatic knowledge. Through a carefully designed sequence of perfumes, we learned that the sequence and intensity of aromatic experiences can make or break our ability to appreciate subtle beauty in fragrance, wine, and food.
Laura demonstrated that we must prepare all our tastings and menus with deliberate attention to levels of aromatic intensity. Without this thoughtful orchestration, we risk having beautiful, delicate aromas completely overwhelmed – what I memorably discovered as being ‘slam dunked by aromas bigger than auras’. This vivid phrase perfectly captures how powerful, dominant scents can obliterate our ability to perceive the nuanced aromatic whispers closest to us that often represent the highest artistry in wine and cuisine.
The experiments revealed that our olfactory system operates much like our vision in bright light – once overwhelmed by intensity, it requires time to recalibrate and regain sensitivity to subtlety. A bold, heavily oaked wine or an intensely aromatic dish can essentially ‘blind’ our nose temporarily, making it impossible to appreciate the gentle floral notes of a delicate wine that follows, or the subtle herb aromatics in a refined dish.
This principle extends far beyond wine tasting into all aspects of dining and aromatic appreciation. Laura showed us how professional sommeliers and chefs intuitively understand this concept, carefully building aromatic journeys that progress thoughtfully from light to intense, ensuring that each element can be fully appreciated without overwhelming what follows.
The practical implications are profound: when designing wine tastings, we must begin with the most delicate expressions and gradually build intensity. When planning meals, we need to consider not just flavour compatibility but aromatic intensity progression. Even in our daily lives, the sequence in which we encounter scents – from perfumes to cleaning products to cooking aromas – impacts our ability to appreciate the subtle aromatic details that surround us.
This final lesson encapsulated the entire workshop’s journey: aromatics are not just pleasant additions to our sensory experience, but require understanding, respect, and thoughtful curation to reveal their full beauty and complexity.
The Lasting Impact
Laura’s workshop reminded us that expertise becomes truly valuable when shared. Her generous contribution to our team’s development exemplifies the collaborative spirit that drives innovation at Creation. By opening our awareness to the critical importance of aroma in memory formation and sensory experience, she has provided tools that will not only enhance our professional capabilities but also our daily appreciation of the sensory world around us.
We look forward to continuing this journey of aromatic discovery, carrying forward the insights Laura shared and applying them to create even richer experiences for everyone who joins us at Creation.