It’s that time again, proof that natural beauty and a grand idea (and a lot of hard work) can pay off. It is mustard time again in the Napa Valley, when vineyard rows alternate green and mustard yellow, hillsides look to a new palette for their colors and from one end of the Valley to another people find ways to celebrate one of the most vivid seasons of the year.

If you are going to celebrate something – anything – in the Napa Valley, you are going to want plenty of good food, great wine and as many talented people as you can find to showcase the event. The Napa Valley Mustard Festival takes all this, rolls it into a nice package and presents it to the Napa Valley and to the world at large.

Now entering its ninth year, the Mustard Festival has grown from that one grand idea of a decade ago to an event that now spans almost two months, involves hundreds of volunteers, thousands and thousands of patrons, international participants and worldwide press. And then there are the thousands of corks that are pulled, mustard bottles (from almost every continent) that are opened for competitions and tastings, and gourmet dishes that are prepared.

How ubiquitous is mustard? It’s the most popular spice in the world, for one thing. Didn’t know that? How about this: there are mustard museums (plural: in Eastport, Maine and in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin); serious people collect mustard pots (check out the Copia exhibit that runs from mid-February through April 22) and there is a lot of money involved. R.J.R. Nabisco is a major player in the mustard game and whole laboratories have been set up to explore the mysteries and commercialization of the genus Brassica. This exploration has been going on at least as far back as Roman times when in the year 60 B.C. a citizen named Columella penned a recipe using mustard.

Speaking of Brassica, it may surprise you to know that this exalted herb is related to the rutabaga, of all things. Also to bok choy, broccoli rabe and kolrabi. There is also a black mustard (Brassica negra) but don’t look too hard for it. It is seldom used and is hard to harvest and, truth be told, has a number of other inherent problems as well.

But back to the Mustard Festival. The opening gala is traditionally held at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, where the entire historic building is taken over for the event. Replete with tables groaning with some of the area’s finest food and wine plus exhibitions and entertainment on all three floors, it is one of the Valley’s premier evenings. Events that follow include local festivals such as Savor St. Helena where Main Street becomes a street fair, A Taste of Yountville when the entire town becomes mustard-themed, and the largest event of all, the Marketplace at the fairgrounds in Napa, a two day extravaganza. In-between are the Photo Finish at Mumm Cuvée Napa, a golf tournament at Silverado Resort, The Awards at Clos Pegase where chefs are crowned and many more events as well, all in celebration of the fields of mustard, but in equal parts a celebration of the Napa Valley.

For more information call (707) 938-1133 or visit their website at www.mustardfestival.org.