[JohnnyB]

If she likes non-acidic cab sauv then it makes sense that she prefers less expensive bottles, as it's a pretty acidic varietal and expensive bottles would be expected to all be high acid wines. Could be that she's just not familiar with really well-balanced high acid wines, or could be she just really likes low acidity, but at a high price point you're going to have a hard time avoiding acid.

Parallex makes good suggestions. Margaret River in Australia is another region to consider. Very distinctive if you want something full of flavour. Going to be high acid though.