Mr & Mrs Smith

Bouchon (+1 707 944 8037) is another outpost of thrice-Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller. It's in downtown Yountville on Washington Street, in an atmospheric 19th-century Wells Fargo stagecoach stop; we recommend you book a table on the outdoor patio and fill up on flawless French-flavoured fruits de mer.

A few doors down on Washington is Bistro Jeanty (+1 707 944 0103), a homely and classic French bistro with welcoming fireplaces and classic dishes from duck rillettes to cassoulet; you can BYO for a US$15 corkage fee.

Yountville's latest hotspot – particularly for Sunday Brunch – is Redd (+1 707 944 2222), a sleekly minimal 65-seat restaurant with the oh-so-competent Richard Reddington at the helm in the kitchen. His seasonal Californian cuisine is always perfectly executed – try the caramelised scallops or glazed pork belly.

A little further north on St Helena Highway, the airy and lively Mustards Grill (+1 707 944 2424) serves relaxed American food with international influences. It has a list of 'Way Too Many Wines' to choose from, and a kitchen garden at the back which provides much of the restaurant's fresh produce.

If you're looking for nightlife, you've come to the wrong place – Poetry Inn is an escape in all senses of the word. Yountville is your best bet, for its lively restaurant scene.

Entrepreneur extraordinaire Cliff Lede owns Poetry Inn, as well as the nearby Cliff Lede Vineyards: head across Silverado Trail to 1473 Yountville Cross Road for the perfect wine-tasting experience and sample the local speciality – cabernet sauvignon. The tasting room is open to the public daily, 10am–5pm (US$10 a person for four wines; alternatively, private tastings can be arranged through the hotel). Cliff is a bit of an eccentric – instead of naming various patches of vines after the grape varieties, he’s named them after rock anthems, so you can take a romantic stroll through ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. He's also an art enthusiast, and has a contemporary art gallery on the premises – The Gallery at Cliff Lede Vineyards; it's open periodically to the public for temporary exhibitions. For more wineries, check out our Napa Valley destination guide.