Spicing Up Your Winter Travel

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Southern Cal
In San Diego, you can indulgently veg out at the Lodge at Torrey Pines (www. lodgetorreypines.com). Book in January, and reserve one of your days to tag along on a day trip offered by Nick Burns, wine director of nearby Arterra restaurant (Bradley Ogden's splashy restaurant ensconced in the San Diego Marriott Del Mar). This "Arterra Wine of the Earth" is a voyage to Baja wineries in the Guadalupe Valley. The day includes winery visits, lunch at a winery, a walk through warm vineyards, then a return to the hotel that evening for a four-course meal paired with the best wines of the area. Should you prefer, you can take advantage of the package deal at the Marriott: two nights, $675 for two, plus of course the Arterra dinner. Call 1-858-369-6032 for more information.

Island Paradise
If you've avoided island R. & R. because of a reputation for bad food and overpriced wines, there is salvation at Sandy Lane, the place in Barbados that made news as the location of Tiger Woods' wedding. Sandy Lane has the obligatory brilliant beach, spa, golf course, tennis courts and all the trimmings, but besides being a slice of paradise, it has a handful of interesting, on-premises restaurants and one of the few really decent, not totally outrageously priced beach- resort wine lists, as a recent spotting of the fine Picq Petit Chablis for about $50 confirms. From $700 a night. www.sandylane.com