Festival del Sole, a ten-day arts festival is returning to the Napa Valley for a second season July 13-22. The festival lures top talent in the opera and classical music fields to wine country including mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, violinists Joshua Bell and Nikolaj Znaider, sopranos Danielle de Niese and Lisa Delan, countertenor David Daniels, pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Fabio Bidini and violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky. Performances will be at the Lincoln Theater, Napa Valley Opera House and the Castello di Amorosa wine castle in Calistoga.

Also on the agenda are special lunches featuring local vinters and esteemed chefs such as Cat Cora and Gary Danko as well as winery dinners at places such as the Clos Pegase Winery, Darioush Winery and Far Niente. A festival pass to the entire event costs $6,000 per person ($2200 tax-deductible) but you can also buy weekend and day passes or tickets to individual concerts and winery events. The Napa festival is the companion to a similar event in Cortona, Italy on August 4-16.