Most of us are lucky to have a decently developed sense of osmatics.

As we meander along the day, we smell everything — some scents we notice and others we take for granted and don’t pay attention to them. For instance, if you come across a skunk, your osmatics kick in big time and you really, really want to get away from that skunk’s smell.

If you come across the scent of a nice bakery or a floral shop, you unknowingly are pleasured and you smile. Your sense of osmatics — our sense of having a well developed sense of smell — is critical to us finding happiness and to being repugnant of something. Hmmm … we smell, therefore we live — it kind of works, kind of…

Floral shops are such a pleasure to visit. I have a friend who has a relative who owns a floral shop and my friend suggested I walk in and introduce myself to her sister. Being shy, I waited for a decent period of time and then stuck my head into the shop. The smell of the flowers drew me quickly into the shop and I asked to see the owner.

I’ll call the owner Celeste because that’s what I called her when I introduced myself. She looked at me with a blank face and then very quickly informed me her name was something else, but to this day, she will always be Celeste to me. Here’s why…

Messing up her name allowed us to share a laugh and that started a conversation about her sister and the floral shop. Celeste’s colleague soon joined the discussion when Celeste remembered I liked wine — her sister had informed her of my passion for the liquid. We joked about wines and flowers — it was like sitting in the middle of a garden with every plant in full bloom. Absolutely amazing and then, wine talk begin.

We discussed our favorite wines for awhile and I found myself just standing there and inhaling all the scents without noticing what I was doing. As I turned to leave, I wondered out loud how they could leave such a pleasing atmosphere. They just smiled at me.

I left the store and continued my walk along a residential street. The breeze brought a scent to me and I knew immediately what kind of plant was around the corner — a lilac tree. Turning the corner, I was greeted by freshly opening lilac flowers and stopped to hold and smell them. They brought back memories of my growing up years and how my mother eagerly awaited the new lilac flowers so she could bring some into the house for us to enjoy.

Then I thought back to the floral shop and pondered something one of the gracious folks there had said — how she enjoyed the various floral scents of wine. The scent of flowers in wines is always a pleasing discovery.

I began to pair floral scents with wines and Prophecy Sauvignon Blanc came to mind. This is a dry, fresh wine that has nice white citrus floral scents — think of passion fruit flowers. It invites you to take a deep breathe and simply enjoy.

At one time, I was able to taste a New York wine from the Chautauqua Region of that state — a wine from Liberty Vineyards called Purple Haze. It’s quite sweet with plummy tastes but the aroma is surprisingly lavender. Lavender scent is a known relaxer and you can’t help but feel relaxed with this sweet gem.

When I first tasted a Nebbiolo wine from Italy’s Piedmont region, I did not expect what I smelled. I smelled, cocked my head, smelled again and had to think — this wine from this mountainous region smells like … violets? Since then, this Italian wine is one of my favorites and Langhe Nebbiolo is a good choice. There are black cherry tastes and the wonderful violet aroma. Italy … I hear you calling!

However and being more in the moment, my mind goes back to that beautiful lilac bush that is now bursting forth with flowers. Too bad they last such a short time!

An excellent and reasonably priced wine to experience this lilac aroma is Ava Grace Rosé. The wine is nicely dry, crisp with apricot tastes and those wonderful lilac aromas. Go ahead, find a bottle and a flowering lilac bush — they pair osmatically!

Oh, there’s so much to smell in life — there’s the good, the bad and the ugly! But, what the heck, if at first you don’t smell the roses in your wine, try again and then just relax and enjoy the experience.

As always, eat and drink in moderation but laugh with reckless abandon!

Cheers!