The Napa Valley Opera House hit a resounding chord with its 2007 “Idol NV” competition, as local audiences discovered a wealth of talent among young Napa singers.

Due to a huge demand for tickets, Berkeley Repertory Theatre has extended its acclaimed production of “After the Quake.”

The proper pairing of food and wine has become de rigueur at Napa Valley wineries, restaurants and among foodies, but pairing music and wine may be something new.

The Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra joined the big leagues last Saturday night.

Granted there are some people who get all excited about the football at Big Game, but there are also those go to Memorial Stadium to see  the biggest half time show of the year, when both the Napa and Vintage bands will perform under the direction of Harry Cadelago at Napa and Bill Gantt from Vintage. The Register will provide coverage of these always memorable performances on Sunday, Nov. 11.

School kids around the valley will get a chance to see live theater this week and next as Napa Valley College presents “Bambi: A Life in the Woods.” Based on the original story by Felix Saltern and adapted by James Devita, this Theater for Young Audiences production is directed by the college’s artistic director, Jennifer King.

It’s been a busy year for Napa musicians Bob St. Laurent and James Regan, who will play a rare, mostly-acoustic concert with their band St. Laurent at Copia on Nov. 15.

Richie Havens is gifted with one of the most recognizable voices in popular music. His fiery, poignant, soulful singing style has remained unique and ageless since he first emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. Havens performs at the Napa Valley Opera House on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m.

For the citizens of Napa during WW II, as with the citizens of the rest of the country, one of the most popular outlets from the stresses of war-time living was going to the movies.

Hoping to inspire home cooks to add to their own libraries as well as those of family and friends, chefs and authors across the land are releasing newly published cookbooks by the carload — just in time for the holidays.

Bleaux Magnolia, Napa’s Calfornia-Cajun restaurant is adopting a no-corkage for locals policy as it also begins offering Sunday night dinners.

What is the best new cookbook you have come across this year?

Stonecrest Drive, nestled along Silverado Trail in Napa, is marked by a solitary pillar inscribed with its name. This now quiet neighborhood, however, holds a place in Napa history; it was launched with fanfare in 1935-36 as a Basalt product demonstration subdivision.

It’s been about eight years since “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” was introduced. Since then, the series has ruled the world of virtual skateboarding with a new game almost every year.

Mark Teeters, director of choral activities at Vintage High School, has a special treat in store for the members of one of his choir groups, Vintage's Chamber Singers.

At around 2,000 feet, after months of dating and weeks of waiting, Julie Schubert summed up her feelings to Joe Grenuk in three simple words as the early morning sun cast an autumn glow.

It was billed as “The Great Cork Debate.” It pitted representatives of the cork and screw cap industries against each other, plus a confirmed screw cap user and an authority on cork taint.

Mendocino Hotel is holding “Malbec, Merlot and Mushrooms” on Nov. 10-11 and will include a forage for mushrooms through nearby Mendocino forests where guests will learn how to identify mushrooms and which ones are safe to eat.

“Napa Valley represents only 4 percent of the wine produced in California, but we get 30 percent of the revenue from that wine.”

Napa Valley, CA—Chateau Haut Verwelm, a new super-luxury winery in an exclusive part of the Napa Valley, is proud to release its first bottling, a remarkable Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon, which will soon be the most talked-about wine in the world.

As harvest 2007 wraps up in the valley, we thought we’d share photos from a different view point: These were taken by Jeff Hansen, the talented winemaker at Amici Cellars, a Napa boutique winery.

When George Taber was working on “Judgment of Paris,” his book on the 1976 Paris tasting, he traveled to many wine producing areas around the world to determine the global impact of the event. But winemakers weren’t talking about that as much as they were about the problems they were having with cork taint. “They were talking about the subject of closures,” he said.