My point is always that with wine, you have to dwell into the details. Everything is relative... its hard to speak in absolute terms. What is your definition of "laying down"... (as in how many years are we talking about?). Are we talking about 3-4 years, or 10+ years?

Also, what is the definition of "cheap/inexpensive". One persons every-day bottle of wine could very well be the special occasion wine for another. Also, price points for wines are different from market to market, this is especially the case for Canada where the state & provinces tend to tax alcohol with a heavy hand.

However, not to leave you questions completely unanswered, let me say this. The everyday wines that will usually retail below USD10-15 per bottle are made to be consumed young, which means during the first 2 or max. 3.5 years after they are released. As a general rule, the wines that you can think about to lay down for a minimum of 5+ years are usually priced at levels of USD30-35 and above. This however does not mean that some of these value-for-money wines will not benefit from buying them and laying them down a few months (6-8 months or so). This period is not a long time when discussing wines/cellar life, but for young wines with a total shelf life of -say- 3 or so years, cellaring them for 6 or so months can make a difference, especially in the better made wines from established producers.

Wine is a very tricky, multi-variable animal where is very hard to generalize and establish 100% clear-cut rules to follow. To find the best answer, its best to look at things on a case by case basis. Apart from storage and cellaring, there is also the issue of correct service temperature, use of a decanter (or not), proper glassware, etc. etc. etc. As I say above, the devil is very much in the details.

If you have a couple of names of the producers and labels that are available in your area, I would be happy to assist you in picking out a few that I think will age well.

Cheers from Buenos Aires,
Alex (Gaucho100K)