cool image: Napa Valley (A Winter's Harvest)

TODAY Weekend, February, 20 - 21, 2010, LIVING, PAGE L25 (Traveller) http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20100220/2002ETR025.pdf

Winter is quiet time in wine country.

PHOTO: http://blog.americanfeast.com/images/Napa%20Valley%20Vineyard.jpg

PHOTO: http://www2.canada.com/topics/travel/guides/images/bn12269_3.jpg

Which makes it a very good time to visit Napa Valley in the US.

PHOTO: http://vineyardforsale-napa.com/Napa%20Valley%20Syrah%20Grapes.JPG

With harvest over and future bottles of wine resting peacefully in barrels and tanks, your chance of chatting with a winemaker when you visit a winery is higher.

PHOTO: http://www.napavalleydrifters.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/3balloons.jpg

And as temperatures drop, so do crowds and prices, making a getaway less stressful on your psyche and wallet.

PHOTO: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Napa_Valley_looking_northwest.jpg

Cooler weather — under 10°C in January and around 15°C in February and March — transforms the valley from exuberant summer splendour to a moodier hue. Winter rains turn hillsides deep green; in the vineyards dormant vines lift spindly arms to misty skies.

PHOTO: http://lodging4vacations.com/napa-for-sale/1-napa-valley-winery.jpg

It all makes for some good eating weather. Now’s the time to feast on the hearty braises and roasts that go best with Napa’s robust red wines.

PHOTO: http://kennedyadventures.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/napa_valley_welcome_sign1.jpg

For some exterior heat, jump into a mud bath in Calistoga, a town known for its hot springs. Slipping into a vat of volcanic mud is the hard-core way to go, but you can opt for a soak in a mineral pool followed by wraps and massages.