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.
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