September 22—26, 2010

Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking With Author Michael Gelb

Socrates expresses the magic that happens when people gather together in a convivial environment to enjoy wine, poetry and music: “You will find that suddenly something extraordinary happens. As they are speaking, it’s as if a spark ignites, passing from one speaker to another, and as it travels it gathers strength, building into a warm and illuminating flame of mutual understanding which none of them could have achieved alone.”

Michael Gelb will team up with Master Sommelier Joe Spellman to explore the relationship between wine and creative inspiration. A comparative tasting of Pio Cesare Barolo and Barbaresco from the superb 2004 & 2005 vintages will serve as a catalyst for your creative juices. Although most groups don’t think of themselves as poetic, after the second glass of wine everyone is a poet!

Be part of a tradition that has inspired many of the greatest minds in history!

A signed copy of the book Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking is included.

September 24, 2010
3:00pm to 4:00pm
La Fonda Hotel
100 E. San Francisco St.
Santa Fe, NM 87501

$75
Tickets to all events are available online at santafewineandchile.org
Phone: (505) 438-8060 (to order tickets by phone)

Click on the image above to download the pdf of the 2010 Santa Fe Wine & Chile Brochure.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Listen to Michael’s radio interview with Mark Pascal and Francis Schott, The Restaurant Guys in which he discusses his new book Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices.

The Restaurant Guys are to the discussion of wine and food what Click and Clack are to “Car Talk.” They have been in the restaurant and wine business on the high end for about 20 years each. They own and operate Stage Left & Catherine Lombardi Restaurants in New Brunswick, NJ, among the most highly regarded Contemporary American Restaurants on the East Coast.

The Restaurant Guys with Michael J. Gelb

Join us at The Wine Industry Technology Symposium in beautiful Napa Valley.

July 13th and 14th, 2010 at the Marriott Napa Valley

• On Wednesday morning I will offer a keynote address on How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

• At the VIP dinner on Tuesday evening I will speak about How to DRINK Like Leonardo Da Vinci!

Read event co-chair Smoke Walin’s blog post on the event.

All work and no play? Let’s have a little fun!

In this show, creativity and innovation expert Michael Gelb provides all the basics of “left hemisphere” practical wine knowledge, including:

• A confidence-building, user-friendly guide to wine etiquette
• Savvy advice on how to purchase fine wines at great prices
• The WINO Principles: Essential things to remember when matching food and wine.
• The 7 Wine and Food Pairings You Must Experience Before You Die.
• Gelb’s hilarious “Wine Geek Jargon Guide” and his thoughtful review of the most useful resources for wine lovers.
  
  Listen to an interview with Michael Gelb about his new book Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking:

Theater of the Mind Podcast Episode with Michael Gelb

Joining Solarzar and Kyralani is Michael J. Gelb, author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci who spoke about his most recent work Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking, sharing how to use wine to tap into our creative potential.

Listen to this lively and entertaining discussion:

Good Vibrations Radio interview with Michael Gelb

This interview can also be heard on The Good Vibrations website and on iTunes.

Thinking Creatively and Effectively

This interview can also be found on The IdeaConnection’s website here.

IdeaConnection Interview with Michael Gelb, Author of Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking, Discover Your Genius, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Innovate like Edison and eight other books.

The overemphasis on the “nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel” attitude that still drives so many lives often results in flatter noses and frozen shoulders. Hard work, diligence, and perseverance are essential elements in long-term success, but they need to be balanced with appreciation of beauty, playfulness, pleasure, and joy to ensure that success includes fulfillment. Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking, pages 22 and 23

Vern Burkhardt (VB): In Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking you say, “…moderate, mindful consumption of wine offers many benefits to body, mind, and spirit.” The emphasis is on “moderate?”

Michael Gelb: Yes, moderation is an important aspect of full enjoyment and appreciation of all of life’s pleasures. As Epicurus, the ancient Greek philosopher, wrote, “Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.” Unlike many other forms of alcohol wine is conducive to moderation. People rarely get together to “knock back” shots of Chateau Mouton Rothschild!

The complexity and nuances in fine wine invite appreciation through slow savoring. And, because wine pairs so well with food, it’s easier to enjoy it in a relaxed and healthy fashion. As Thomas Walker wrote in the 19th century, “The art in using wine is to produce the greatest possible quantity of present gladness without any future depression.”

VB: How does one drink wine mindfully?

Michael Gelb: If you are at a cocktail party and wine is being served, the wine isn’t usually the focus and the drinking is often rather mechanical. Mindful wine appreciation begins with eliminating distractions – and it helps to have a fine wine served in appropriate glassware. If you serve a fine wine and focus on appreciating it using all your senses you’ll discover that mindfulness comes easily because it’s so good that you will naturally bring your full attention to it.

VB: Was Socrates’ brilliance partially related to his ability to drink moderately compared to others in the symposia he frequented?

Michael Gelb: His colleagues and students believed that Socrates’ brilliance was expressed in his masterful use of wine. Socrates and his great student, Plato, believed that sharing wine in moderation helped to liberate the muse – the creative spirit. As Plato noted, “Nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the Gods to man.”

VB: You associate wine with creativity. It’s not a necessary ingredient for liberating the more imaginative right brain but it helps?

Michael Gelb: It helps. That’s why the ancient Greeks, the geniuses of the Renaissance and the Founding Fathers of the United States, all made the sharing of wine an integral part of their gatherings.

VB: You say, “The right dose of fine wine and poetry offers a simple, everyday way to accept [Dr. Jill Bolte] Taylor’s invitation to relax our hyperactive left minds and be open to the out-of-the box right mind.” How does this work?

Michael Gelb: Moderate wine consumption gently inhibits left-hemisphere functioning thereby inviting the right to emerge.

Also, Daniel Pink indicated in A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future that the era of the left-brain dominance and the Information Age are giving way to a world in which right=brain qualities will predominate. These qualities are empathy, meaning and inventiveness. Wine and poetry are a way to promote creative thinking, emotional intelligence, and collaboration.

Vern’s Note: Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is the author of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.

VB: “I can’t think of anything that money buys that gets me particularly excited, except for wine!” What causes the excitement?

Michael Gelb: It’s just so good! I appreciate all the wonderful blessings of the earth, but for me fine wine is the most delicious, magical, and memorable.

VB: You talk about the health benefits of moderate consumption of wine. Is this a key reason for enjoying a glass of red wine from time to time?

Michael Gelb: Wine has been treasured as a health tonic since antiquity – Hippocrates made it part of most of his prescriptions!

There’s a growing body of research that supports the traditional notion that moderate wine consumption, as part of a meal, is good for your health. A recent article in Wine Spectator magazine entitled “The Healing Power of Wine” concluded, “So the question is no longer whether moderate wine consumption is healthy, but why and how.”

VB: “The simple secret of appreciating wine or any other form of art is to be fully present.” What does it mean to be fully present, and how does one go about achieving this?

Michael Gelb: It’s not something you achieve; it’s something you simply experience. Meditation and yoga classes encourage present moment awareness through, for example, following the flow of breathing. I encourage people to meditate on fine wine and follow the flow of the delicious aromas and taste sensations.

VB: “You can access your vast intuitive power, magnify your appreciation, and liberate your creativity by posing open-ended questions.” You make this statement when encouraging readers to not be embarrassed about whether they get the right answer when describing the taste of a particular wine. This advice applies to most situations?

Michael Gelb: There are many questions and situations in life where there is a “right” or “wrong” answer, but that framework isn’t always relevant or useful – especially when it comes to deepening enjoyment of sensory pleasure.

The fear of failure and embarrassment is the biggest impediment to adult learning. By posing questions that don’t have a “right” or “wrong” answer we can free ourselves from fear and deepen our sense of presence and appreciation. Such as, “How do you experience this wine?” “If the wine was a piece of music who would be the composer?” “What feelings or emotions does the wine evoke?”

VB: “When we compare music, wine, or any other art form with an open mind…we find inspiration.” What is an open mind?

Michael Gelb: An open mind is curious and focused on exploration. It is free from arrogance, prejudice, and preconception.

VB: “Expect the best from people, without an attitude of entitlement, and you will usually get it.” Is this the best advice one could give a newly appointed leader of an organization?

Michael Gelb: That is the advice I give them!

VB: You are an expert on almost all aspects of wines. Has this been a lifetime study?

Michael Gelb: The more I learn about wine the more I realize I don’t know. If I’m an expert on any aspect of wine it’s in the art of helping people deepen their enjoyment and appreciation of it. I’m also good at helping people find great wine values!

VB: Despite it being an ancient craft I gather there are still limitless opportunities for innovations in the wine industry?

Michael Gelb: Wine-making technology has improved around the world.

There is more fine wine available today than ever before, but there’s also more generic, soulless wine on the shelves as well. A lot of innovation has gone into marketing wine instead of making it better.

Perhaps in 20 years you will be able to place some electrodes on your body and get the full experience of a 1961 Chateau Latour? In the meantime, look for wine that is well made and evocative of the spirit of the earth where it was born.

VB: “On your deathbed the pleasure you experienced by sharing fine wine will outweigh your sense of satisfaction at having economized.” This principle applies to almost all aspects of life; would you agree?

Michael Gelb: Yes!

VB: You say the love of wine is one thing the ancient Greeks, the Renaissance, and the founding fathers of the U.S – all examples of the extraordinary flowering of genius – had in common. Was wine in any way a cause of this flowering, or are you pointing out that creative people over the centuries have enjoyed a glass of wine?

Michael Gelb: It’s a chicken and egg type question. Are people creative because they drink wine, or do they drink wine because they are creative? Either way, I recommend making the creative appreciation of wine part of your life.

VB: Your wife, Deborah Domanski, is a performing mezzo-soprano. Has her creative approach helped you develop your thinking about creativity and innovation?

Michael Gelb: On our first date I served, Deborah a 1997 Ciacci Piccolomini Brunello di Montalcino. At the time she was still part of a young artists program so she was basically living on frozen burritos and Coronas. Nevertheless, she described the wine in such an effortless, insightful and elegant way that she enriched my appreciation of the wine, and of her artistic soul. We’ve been together ever since. And, Deborah is the coauthor of our wine blog entitled Wine Musings.

VB: You describe an exercise, involving wine and poetry, which you lead to help business clients with team building. Have you received feedback about whether or not this exercise has resulted in long-term benefits for people working in teams?

Michael Gelb: The exercise is part of a series of programs and processes that I facilitate for my clients. The long-term benefits are the result of the whole effort and the Wine-Tasting for Team-Building program serves as a delightful catalyst for those benefits.

VB: You say, “The combination of wine and poetry seems to enhance the EQ [emotional intelligence] of those with high IQ.” Do you recommend it as a method for promoting the highest levels of performance in an organization?

Michael Gelb: If high performance is the goal then there’s no substitute for “esprit de corps” – a feeling of rapport, good will, and genuine appreciation of one’s colleagues. This exercise is one simple, very effective means to promote that feeling.

VB: You observe that in your experience the more conservative the group that engages in this exercise, the more sensual and sexy the poetry they write. Does this surprise you when it happens?

Michael Gelb: It surprised me the first time, but not now.

VB: Are you planning your next book?

Michael Gelb: My next book will focus on improving mental ability as we get older. There will be a chapter on wine!

VB: Any final comments about uncorking one’s creative juices?

Michael Gelb: Ben Franklin said, “Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” I wrote this book so that folks can deepen their appreciation for wine and life, and experience the happiness that Franklin describes.

VB: Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge of wines, and for encouraging us to not feel intimidated by what we don’t know.

Conclusion:
Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking provides a unique, original and very enjoyable approach to team building. Author Michael Gelb describes his wine and poetry writing exercise as one of the ways to encourage teams to work more collaboratively and effectively. He advises that it is based on a different approach than putting the team members through a stressful experience – outward bound weekends or putting people into potentially embarrassing situations come to mind! The author’s approach is, “Create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere and then gently guide participants to get a glimpse of the creative spark in their colleagues and themselves.”

In addition, Michael Gelb provides useful tips about wine – how to taste wine, ordering wine with confidence in a restaurant, matching food with wine, suggestions for excellent wines at reasonable cost, and much more.

from Tasting Notes on Epicurious.com

“Planning to host a wine party this month? Think about combining two passions and host a book club and tasting night. I’ve read two recently-released books that will help you make an event memorable.

The first is by Michael Gelb, author of the best-selling book How to Think like Leonardo DaVinci. Gelb is a world-renowned motivational speaker but also a wine lover. His latest book, Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork your Creative Juices ($20 Running Press), is required reading for anyone who has a passion for the grape. He offers unique ways to approach wine including ideas on “inspired thinking” wine parties. Gelb’s vinous perspective is refreshing, joyful, and smart.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie Sbrocco is an award-winning author of Wine for Women and The Simple & Savvy Wine Guide (HarperCollins), and a nationally-recognized speaker, and wine consultant. She is host of PBS television’s Check Please! which has garnered both a James Beard Award and three Emmy awards. She’s also a key judge on the new reality TV series, The Wine Makers on PBS

Uncork your creative juices with innovation and management guru Michael Gelb in celebration of the Conscious Capitalism community.

Thursday May 13, 2010 — Tantric Bistro, Boston

Where:
Tantric Bistro
123 Stuart Street — Boston
phone 617-367-8742

View Larger Map

When:
TONIGHT, Thursday May 13, 2010
8:00 PM

Cost:
$95/person*
3-course Dinner paired with exquisite champagnes and get a copy of Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices by Michael J Gelb

*contributions are tax-exempt

Contact:
Shubhro Sen. Co-Founder
Conscious Capitalism Institute
508-631-5055
ssen @ cc-institute.com

By: SCOTT GREENBERG
The Vine Guy
April 8, 2010

Several weeks ago, I was the recipient of a remarkable experience. My dear friend, and wine collector extraordinaire, Gene, invited me to dinner to meet a friend of his — a prolific author who was in town to promote his latest book. Little did I know that it would turn out to be an inspirational evening.

Michael Gelb has made a nice living writing about things we didn’t know we missed until he pointed a few of them out to us. For example, in his book, “How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci,” Gelb introduces seven principles for thinking like history’s greatest genius, including Da Vinci’s insatiable curiosity as well as his enthusiastic approach to life’s mysteries. These principles seem to smack of common sense yet offer incredible insight at the same time.

But the book that brought all of us there that evening was Gelb’s latest (12th) publication, “Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices.” In a book that is part wine education, part poetic odes and part history lesson, Gelb takes the reader on a fun and informative journey that includes wonderful wine anecdotes and fabulous pairings (including a section devoted to the seven wine pairings you must try before you die). I was so taken with Gelb’s passion for wine and the contributions that the fermented juice has made throughout humanity, I decided to throw him a curve.

I told Michael that I had received a number of e-mails lately from readers who wanted “value” oriented wines — generally under $15 a bottle. Because I could understand most wine consumers are just looking for a decent glass of wine to enjoy at the end of the day or with dinner, I thought that the requests were reasonable. But then Gelb encouraged me to think of these requests from a different perspective.

He asked, “What are we doing right now?”

“Why, drinking wine and trying to solve my problem,” I responded somewhat confused.

Gelb smiled, lifting his glass, “No,” he chided gently, “we are sharing a bottle of wine. We are having a mutually collective experience. That is what you should suggest to your readers. Ask them to pool their resources together and share a bottle of wine.”

Wow. Truly inspired thinking while drinking wine. Wine is, after all, is always best when shared with others. So, this week’s column is devoted to Gelb’s idea and will feature wines for two, three and four people to share, where each “share” is $15 or less. Retail prices are approximate.

Two people share:

2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel, Paso Robles, Calif. ($30)

This vineyard operation is co-owned by Francois Perrin, one of the owners of the famed Beaucastel wine from the Chateauneuf de Pape region of France and Robert Haas, the importer. This white wine is a blend of roussanne, grenache blanc and picpoul blanc and offers a gorgeous bouquet of pear, orange zest and honeysuckle. In the mouth, the flavors of stone fruits, Meyer lemon and pear are expansive and rich, with great acidity and minerality to keep the finish bright and focused.

2006 Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand ($30)

New Zealand in coming on strong in the pinot noir marketplace. This cool, soft version offers a pretty bouquet of red cherries, plum and a hint of strawberries. The medium-bodied frame supports florallike flavors of strawberry, raspberry and bright cherry. The abundant acidity provides wonderful balance through the entire finish.

Three people share:

2005 Weinzorn Pinot Gris Sommerberg, Alsace, France ($45)

I think pinot gris is one of the unsung heroes of white wines, and this is one of the reasons why. The nose features scents of honeysuckle, peach and apricot. The palate is beautifully textured with layered flavors of dried apricot, peach, white raisin and pear. There is just a touch of spicy nutmeg on the generous finish.

2005 Lan Limited Edition, Rioja, Spain ($45)

A big wine for the price, featuring a perfumed nose of boysenberry and cedar. Notes of pomegranate, dried cherry and dark blueberry dominate the palate while subtle notes of mocha and earth glide in on the powerful-yet-elegant finish.

Four people share:

2005 Domaine Etienne Sauzet Chassagne-Montrachet Burgundy, France ($60)

Many consider the white wines of Burgundy the benchmark of chardonnay wines. Splurge on this lovely example and you’ll see why. The aromatic bouquet is full of creamy citrus and stone fruit aromas. Bright flavors of green apple and nectarine are accented by lemon/lime notes on the finish. Great acidity makes this wine sing on the long finish.

2006 Chateau Gruaud-Larose (St. Julien) Bordeaux, France ($60)

This is a wonderful example of Bordeaux wine, with a earthy nose featuring scents of blackberry and cassis. Flavors of black cherry and dark plum fill the front of the palate while hints of dried sage and tobacco fill in on the finish. The firm tannins holds the wine in focus and provides great structure.

Read more at the Washington Examiner.