Love was in the air Friday night at Festival del Sole.

The athletic ballet displayed by hotshot Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti and incomparable American violinist Joshua Bell set the tone for Wednesday’s exceptional Festival del Sole concert at Yountville’s Lincoln Theater.

Playing Franz Liszt’s “Transcendental Etudes” is no picnic.

Ah, the country life. This is the time of year when everyone seems to be making their pilgrimage to the woods for a few days.

Among the films shown at the Wine Country Film Festival this year in American Canyon will be Napa filmmaker Duc Nguyen’s “Bolinao 52.”

There is a place, 90 miles from Napa, among the towering coastal redwoods, that is transformed from a serene grove to a jumping, jiving, bopping musical meeting place every summer.

Conrad Tao. Remember that name.

Commissioned and performed by the University of Texas at Austin Wind Ensemble, John Corigliano’s “Circus Maximus” underscores the nature of spectacle by presenting one.

Wine Country Film Festival presents a total of 38 films this year in American Canyon, Napa and Sonoma  July 19-22.

Herbie Hancock remains one of the most revered yet controversial figures in jazz. His appearance at the Robert Mondavi Summer Music Festival over the weekend bore that out.

“Public Cowboy #1” Gene Autry would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year.

The Pocket Opera celebrated the last production of its 30th season at the Napa Valley Opera House Sunday with larger than life results.

It was Sir James Galway’s droll humor that provided some of the best moments of the Festival del Sole concert held in the courtyard at Castello di Amorosa Tuesday evening.

In “Proof,” which opened at Dreamweavers on Friday, playwright David Auburn sets out to show that love, in all its multifarious varieties, has much in common with what we tend to view as some of the more abstruse mysteries of existence.

From Register staff

Ron Debelak, a resident at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, sent in this photo of his “June pumpkin, with four more months to go.”

More than many foods, fish really benefits from the hot and fast cooking of the grill.

You may have noticed, perusing the garden-fresh produce at the farmers markets, how much of it comes from the bountiful Yolo County, just over the hill from Napa.

Besides staffing booths at farmers’ markets, conducting free garden workshops, producing a cable television show, writing newspaper articles, and staffing a help desk to answer garden problems, Napa County Master Gardeners care for two small demonstration gardens.

Have you recently observed your vegetable and flower seedlings being devoured overnight?

Dormant season pruning is a traditional tree and garden chore, and it certainly has a rightful place in the annual cycle of garden activities.

A backyard swimming pool can be an inviting oasis, particularly on a hot, sultry day. No surprise that swimming pools are one of the most popular sources of outdoor home entertainment.

Nickname: Smokey Bear

Nickname: Toby T.

America’s most popular winery — at least by one measure — is not in the Napa Valley. Nor is it in Sonoma County or even Monterey. It is in Buncombe County, N.C.

Many Napa Valley wineries have added olive oil and vinegar to their product lines to add to their repertoire. Rutherford’s Round Pond Estate did just the opposite.

Charged with transitioning the Robert Mondavi Winery from business by familial handshake to corporate toe-marking, Christopher Barefoot is anxious to create new consumer experiences at the world-renowned Oakville cellar.

The bill that will allow more vintners to pour their wines at charitable fundraising events has cleared another hurdle.