The Fragrance Foundation’s associate board hosted a pairing of food, wine and fragrance at the City Winery in New York City on October 26.
Mary John Baumann, DWS founder and president of Nose in the Glass, presented the historical background of four different types of wine, and Jonathan Lindenauer, chef de cuisine at Bon Appétit, created a four-course meal to pair with the different flavors of each wine. Stephen Nilsen, perfumer for Givaudan, developed olfactory representations of the food and the wine to create fragrance accords to coincide with each course. Bringing together the crisp elements of autumn, Mr. Nilsen crafted a fifth fragrance to embody the theme of the evening and named it “Autumn Harvest.”

Chef Lindenauer said he had never paired food with fragrance, so this was a very exciting and interesting experience for him. “I was influenced by fall, and local and seasonal ingredients that would really invoke the senses,” Lindenauer said.
Mr. Nilsen dicussed how he took different notes from the chef’s menu to create individual fragrance accords. “I was able to play with the finest ingredients we have on our fragrance palette to create something you wouldn’t normally find on store shelves,” Nilsen said.
As guests finished up their maple pots de crème with almond praline, Ms. Baumann encouraged everyone to be experiment with new experiences.

“We hope to inspire you to think differently about wine-making and perfumery,” Baumann said. “We want you to expect the unexpected and enjoy the sensory magic in food, wine and fragrance.”