We just got back from a weekend in Napa. Tired of paying $$$ for staying in the valley, we decided to try something different. We stayed at the Best Western Plus at the Vines, in downtown Napa. Really a motel. But it was only $175 + tax per night. Our room appeared to be recently renovated. It was clean and spacious. Yes, the walls were thin, but it wasn’t that bad. We would stay there again—but probably only off season. The relative lack of traffic made the longer commutes to the wineries tolerable. Also, there is a abundance of good restaurants in downtown Napa, so we didn’t have to commute any great distance to go to dinner after a day of tasting in the valley.
On Friday, we tasted at Shafer and Peter Michael and on Saturday, we visited with Aaron Pott and tasted at Pride (get the Summit tasting if you can). Aaron (and his wife, Claire) have a special place in my wine heart. It’s always a good time speaking with Aaron. He treated us with his whole line up (excluding limited production “Turf War”)—including two new wines. They were uniformly great and recommended.