Storing accented characters in mysql db

[eluser]Desireco[/eluser]
I am working on small cms that powers wine card. Often descriptions or names will include accented characters and I didn't have much luck with this. I get ??? in my database. If I enter them directly in mysql (from command line) everything works fine.

$sql=$this->db->update_string('wines',$data,"id=$id");
$this->db->query($sql);

When I try this 'á à è é â ñ ü û ' it goes through the update statement ok, but in database I get ? ? ? ? ? ? ? etc. So it must be that query screws it up.

I am sure there is simple and easy solution to this. If someone who handled this could enlighten me, I would really appreciate.

Thanks in advance.

Zeljko Dakic