On Sunday, we visited a winery in the Stag’s Leap district of Napa whose Cabernets were out of this world — we’re talking layers and layers of interesting scents, including coffee, tobacco, chocolate, caramel, smoke, and molasses.  The catch was, of course, a hugely steep price tag, which meant that we would return home empty-handed. 

On the bright side of things, later that night we popped open our bottle of Simon Hackett’s 2005 Old Vine Grenache from Australia’s Mclaren Vale region, and, happily, it reminded us that excellent wine need not always cost a Benjamin (or even close to it…)  

At $12, the Simon Hackett is a tip top value – we found aromas of coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, and dark cherry, and in the mouth, the coffee and cherry paved the way for a slightly tingly, cinnamon-and-spice finish.  As for texture, it was light (but not too much so) on tannin and acid, which translated to a slightly silky, but soothing, mouthfeel not unlike that of last week’s Weekend Wine.

Add to the above a screw top and the exotic appeal of a Grenache from Down Under, and we were ready to start buying this stuff in bulk.

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Mill Valley Market.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.