My wife brought home some wine...

Citra's Cheap Cabernet Sauvignon

Surprisingly Good

(Image borrowed from Palm Bay Imports)

... labeled "Citra," a wine producer that I'd never heard of (as if my ignorance meant anything).

As you can see, the bottle has a simple, but elegant splash of color to make its label distinctive and, as you might foresee, uses a differently colored splash for each type of wine.

But what attracted my practical wife was the prize -- less than 7,000 won (~8 dollars) per bottle (at E-mart, I think) -- so she bought two bottles of Citra's Cabernet Sauvignon. Considering such a low price, I was somewhat skeptical. The back label promised a "sophisticated combination of deep garnet color, spicy aromas and velvety, dark fruit flavors" that goes well "with grilled steak, barbeque and hearty fare." Sounded like a wine meant for a strong-flavored Korean meal, and I imagined it with bulgogi, though my wife thinks that wines don't go well with Korean foods.

Anyway, I uncorked the wine and found the aromas indeed spicy. The wine was, as promised, velvety, with dark fruit flavors, and it was good. Not great, but good -- and at the price, an excellent buy.

Curious about this producer, I checked online and discovered a bit from the Citra website. The Citra wines come from Italy's Abruzzo (or Abruzzi) region, midway down the peninsula on the Adriatic coast. From Citra's online portfolio, I discovered the following:

The winemaking firm of Citra came into being in 1973 when 7,000 small growers scattered throughout the Abruzzi opted to band together to form a single wine cooperative. What they all shared in common was a commitment to win the national and international recognition they felt the wines of their region deserved.

As part of their commitment the growers delved deep into their pockets to build an impressively modern winery near the town of Ortona. Attracted to its first-rate facilities and the democratic goodwill on which Citra was founded, other local growers were swift to join the cooperative which now numbers some 10,000 growers.

Well, Citra's been around long enough that I should have heard of it, for I began drinking wines in 1980, when I moved to California and was introduced to good wines by my Uncle Harlin, who was something of an expert and knew a lot not only about the California wines but also about European wines.

At any rate, I can recommend the Citra Cabernet Sauvignon as a good, basic wine at a low price for readers with a budget as constrained as mine.