If you go into most supermarkets here in Spain you will find this stalwart on the shelves. The Don Simon one litre carton of vino tinto is much beloved for its price to quality ratio. Don't expect miracles. This is a factory produced chemically adulterated mass produced drink that doesn't have any pretensions to anything other wise. There is even a warning on the side saying 'contains suphites' in TWENTY ONE different languages. Don Simon is a brand name used by the very large company of J.Garcia Carrion La Mancha, who have been in the wine trade since 1890.
They are clearly way ahead of the game in terms of marketing. A recent addition to the package are the address of two social media sites, Facebook and Tuenti - a popular site in Spain {tu-en-ti}. Also the package is the first of the wines I've seen to carry a QR code linking moble users to the company website.In a recent turn about, the company has taken to shipping the same wine in a clear pastic bottle, though of 75cl size, whereas the carton is a litre. Clearly they are researching the market and adapting according to the segmentations they find.
The wine itself is drinkable. I didn't notice until I wrote this piece that there is a small label saying produce of Chile. There is some fuityness, a mild tannin and moderate strength at ten per cent. There is a lack of body though, a thinness which personally find makes it unsuitable for the first glass of a series. What it actually is remains a mystery though I'd go with a cabernet blend. However as the palatte is numbed and one starts to seriously quaff, there are no really unpleasant tastes or smells and so subsequent glasses become quite acceptable. This is not the case for a lot of cheap cartons available in Spain!
Cheapest price at the moment is one euro ten centimos from the Mercadona here in Olvera.