| I spent 30 years, my whole adult life up to this | | | | successful blend is far more compelling than any |
| point, in the wine industry. I owned a retail store | | | | one essential oil alone. |
| and, over the course of those 30 years, tasted | | | | Today, she let me smell a "green" or new blend |
| and smelled literally thousands of wines. Of the | | | | that she had just created and had me compare |
| many aspects of wine that I found fascinating, I | | | | its aroma to the same blend that had aged for |
| think the most interesting is how wines change | | | | about one year. The difference was startling. The |
| over time. | | | | new blend had the segmented aspect of a young |
| Young wines are brash and exuberant. The nose | | | | wine with each essential oil's particular scent |
| of a young wine is redolent with bright ripe fruit, | | | | distinct and separate from the other. In the year |
| oak if there is any, and, if it's a truly great wine, a | | | | old blend the different scents had melded into a |
| few other nuances to add interest. As a wine | | | | very complex bouquet where no one scent |
| ages, the primary aromas of fresh fruit give way | | | | dominated the other. Instead, they were |
| to the secondary, or what is known as tertiary | | | | seamlessly intertwined to create a scent where |
| aromas. At this stage the fruit aromas are | | | | the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. |
| replaced by non-fruit aromas, ie. earth, truffle, | | | | I now have a much greater appreciation for the |
| forest floor, and spice. Whereas in a young wine, | | | | expertise involved in the blending of these |
| the aromas are compartmentalized and separate, | | | | precious oils. It has also allowed me to use the |
| in a mature wine the aromas are far more | | | | knowledge I gained from the many years I've |
| interesting and meld into a seamless and complex | | | | spent with my nose stuck in a wineglass to assist |
| bouquet. | | | | her in identifying the many nuances that a |
| So, you are probably thinking, what does this | | | | successful essential oil blend creates. Wine tasting |
| have to do with essential oils? I've come to learn | | | | and blending essential oils are both acquired skills |
| that essential oil blends evolve in much the same | | | | that take many years to perfect and the |
| way wine does. My wife has been experimenting | | | | combinations are limitless. As with both, the lesson |
| with essential oils for many years and has | | | | is simple. The more you learn the more you |
| developed a number of blends that she uses in | | | | realize how little you know. But the journey, along |
| her line of body care products. The process of | | | | with the opportunity for discovery, is the best |
| blending oils is a combination of art and science | | | | part. |
| and takes years to master. The synergy of a | | | | |