Mind & Body

Health experts say wine is good for you – but alas, it takes a bit more than just a daily glass of cabernet to stay in shape. No problem: Wine Country is as serious about healthy living as it is about fine food and drink. On sunny weekend mornings, dog walkers and runners flit along the streets, and cyclists huff and puff their way to the top of tough climbs like Cavedale Road and Ink Grade. Whether your fitness regimen involves barbells, laps in the pool, a superheated yoga class, or eighteen holes on the links, there are plenty of opportunities to get moving. And there's no shortage of places offering post-workout pampering and rejuvenation, from pedicures to salt scrubs and full-body massage.

>>2007 Winners in the Mind & Body Category

Best Day Spa

Indulging in a relaxing spa treatment feels even more opulent when the locale is a hidden gem – an oasis of tranquility, tucked away from the hubbub of daily life. The Kenwood Inn and Spa in the Sonoma Valley and the Lavender Hill Spa in Calistoga are two such delights. Inside, beyond their unassuming highway-facing facades, lush elegance and attentive service reign supreme. The Italianate Kenwood Inn boasts the nation's original Vinotherapie spa, offering the opportunity to immerse yourself – literally – in the wine experience with wine barrel baths of mineral waters and grape extracts, crushed cabernet seed and honey scrubs, and massage with grape seed oils. An Eastern sensibility suffuses the Lavender Hill gardens and treatment rooms, with stone Buddhas and exotic blossoms decorating the sanctuary-like setting; in addition to the classic Calistoga mud bath, the spa offers a Thai bath of milk, kelp, mandarin orange and Oriental spices, along with a range of salt scrubs, massages and facials. If it's exclusivity you seek, try the Silverado Resort's elegant Roman-style spa, where Silverado Club members and resort guests indulge in treatments from massages to manicures. The range of sugar scrubs and body wraps includesa fragrant “ginger wrap” that also layers on aromas of cinnamon and tangerine for a sweet-scented hour of bliss.

Best Health Club/Yoga Studio

Let’s face it – you’ve gotta break a sweat on a regular basis if you want to stay in top shape. Luckily, in the Wine Country exercise is more bliss than blah, thanks to a range of fitness options offering all manner of methods to move your body and lift your spirit. Splash through aqua aerobics classes at Exertec in Napa or Parkpoint in Sonoma, or stroke a few laps at St. Helena’s Health Spa Napa Valley; on land, push yourself through aerobics or put the pedal to the metal in an intense spin class with instructors who are competitive cyclists when they’re not teaching. There’s a world of movement to discover in classes such as Exertec’s Turbo Kick or Parkpoint’s Circuit Zone or Body Blast.

Or if you seek more meditative motion, try one of the Wine Country’s specialized yoga classes. Sonoma’s Bikram Yoga will wring you out with its hourlong workouts in a superheated exercise room, while at Yoga Napa Valley it’s possible to sample a range of styles, from A (Anusara) to V (Vinyasa) – including prenatal and “mommy and me” classes. And for a Pilates alignment and strengthening session, look no further than Susan Branum Studio in St. Helena, where traditional Pilates are combined with yoga and orthopedic massage for a holistic health experience. With so many options available, it’s easy to shape up.

Best Salon

Clip, curl, color or just a good barbering? Whatever your hair needs there’s a salon in Napa and Sonoma to fit your style. Many of the spas and health clubs provide specialized services to help you round out your day of pampering – whether you’re looking for a pedicure, manicure, facial, or just a wash and blow-dry. If you just need to dash in and get a nail fixed, many of the local salons offer walk-in service, with at most only a short wait.

Local beauticians and cosmeticians have trained all over the U.S. and can give you the latest style – or whatever fits your face best.