SUB-ZERO WINE BLOG

Spas are all the rage now, especially those in California wine country. Staying at a spa-style resort is a great way to visit Napa, Sonoma, or Santa Barbara. After a long, hard day of trekking through the vineyards you can look forward to a soothing massage, a steamy sauna, or an invigorating swim.

Some of these spas are starting to go a little overboard with the gimmicks, however. I just got a press release about a Napa Valley spa that’s offering a Chardonnay pedicure. Considering some of the cheaper Chardonnays I’ve tasted lately, that’s probably not a bad use for the stuff . But do you really want your feet soaking in the same brand of wine that you’ll be drinking for dinner? Perhaps the pedicure sommelier will offer you a choice between a deep, oak-laced Chard with hints of white fruit, or a flinty, steely one with good acid structure. The same spa also offers a sugar body scrub, a rub-down with body butter, and a soothing seaweed wrap. Wow, this is starting to sound like a full-course meal! Personally, I’ve always preferred soaking in a hot vat of good old Napa Valley vineyard mud, like the ones you find at spas in Calistoga.

And California isn’t alone in offering wine country spas. My friends Florence and Daniel Cathiard, owners of Château Smith Haut-Lafitte in Bordeaux, also have an adjacent spa called Les Sources de Caudalie, run by their daughter Mathilde. (A “caudalie,” by the way, is the scientific unit of measure for how long the taste of wine remains on the palate after you swallow. You can bet that measure was invented by a Frenchman!) Les Sources de Caudalie produces a well-known line of spa and beauty products made from grapes and grapevines, which are available at Sephora stores.