Shakespeare under the stars in the Napa Valley, with a glass of wine in your hand and a picnic dinner at your feet, it is the sort of experience that might inspire you to write a little poetry yourself.

The Napa Valley has long been associated with beautiful scenery, excellent food and wine and unique fine arts events. But where can you enjoy all three at once? During the month of July, there's no better place than the Napa Valley Shakespeare Festival.

From July 6 to July 29, Napa's own outdoor Shakespeare festival will present their usual stellar offering under the stars in Rutherford Grove Winery's beautiful eucalyptus grove. This year, local theatre artists and professionals from around the Bay Area unite to present the delightful comedy 'Twelfth Night' and the suspenseful 'Richard III'. Audience members can enter an hour before the show begins, relax in their low-backed lawn chairs and enjoy a boxed dinner from the Oakville Grocery and a bottle of fine wine from Rutherford Grove Winery.

This season the Festival expands to include two new indoor shows at the recently renovated St. Helena School Theatre. The first, playing August 10-26, is Tom Stoppard's outrageous whodunit, 'The Real Inspector Hound'. The second is Thornton Wilder's family classic, 'Our Town', playing September 14-30.

Individual tickets are $18 for adults and $14 for students and seniors. Season tickets are available; boxed dinners are $15. For more information call the Shakespeare Festival office at (707) 251-WILL, or visit www.napashakespeare.org. Tickets are available at (510) 601-TWEB (or www.ticketweb.com) and at Copperfield's Books in Napa or Calistoga and Main Street Books in St. Helena.