FINDING THE SPARKLE IN WINTER

Finding the sparkle in winter

Anyone can find the shimmer when light glances off the blazing vineyards

of autumn. But bringing that brilliance to winter takes a surer hand.

The landscape seems to slumber, with tangles of quiet grapevines

silhouetted against a subtly lit sky. After pruning, even the vines are

reduced to the barest of lines sketched in artistic relief against a soft

gray.

Warm gatherings of friends are a certain way to ward off the chill. Let

the house fill with the comforting aroma of a meal braising on a low flame. To

invoke a Wine Country holiday season, pull together a group to make wreaths

that reflect a particular sense of place. Scour the landscape for what remains

after harvest. The bay, eucalyptus and vines provide a foundation for the

surprise finds.

"When you start looking, there's way more to the landscape than you'd

think," says Barbara Micallef, who has thrown wreath-making parties in Dry

Creek for years. "All of a sudden you start seeing things you never noticed

before."

And that is the challenge of winter - finding the sparkle when all is

dimmed. Then, in unexpected ways, nature offers its seasonal gifts. Try the

pomegranate, whose glimmering scarlet seeds are celebrated in myth as the

temptation that led to winter's darkest months. Or experiment with Meyer

lemons and persimmons, whose vivid yellow and orange light up the table.

Outside, the morning sun glints off the frosty vines and even the

dormant vineyards offer up their own jewels to adorn this muted season.