Trubador,
I'm with dfwwino on this one - I age my commercial wines, as most of the wines that I purchase ($8-$80 range is the norm) benefit quite a bit from aging. On top of that, my most eye-opening experience with aging was the purchase of a cheap little bottle of 2001 Mirassou Merlot. I had purchased it in 2005 from a restaurant wine inventory reduction sale for kicks and then it sat in my basement until the end of Spring of this year (2007). When my ex-wife needed a bottle for cooking, I was scrambling around looking for something and figured, 'Fritz - why not try this.' So, I popped the cork, took a quick taste to make sure it wasn't off, and said go for it.
There was about 2/3 of the bottle remaining after the required amount for the recipe was removed. While I was hesitant to try it for fear of the results of aging an inexpensive wine so long, I was *amazingly* surprised at the results. It had a rich berry flavor with great mouthfeel and a wonderful finish. So much so was I surprised that I took a completely different look at aging. To date, most commercial wines that fit into the $8+/bottle category seem to do well. It's also seems to help to have a wine that uses a good fruit base instead of a mix of the 'left over' fruit.
Long story longer, I find that most people get confused about the statistic that 90% of wine is consumed in the first 1-2 years after bottling and it gets inccorectly presumed that 90% of wine *should* be consumed in the first year or so.
And for the record, I even age whites - had a very nice 2005 Pietan Albarino on Sunday that has sat for 3 years and hadn't lost a beat with a wonderful crispness/acidity.
When in doubt - buy two bottles (or six) and just keep them aging - get a feel for what works for you. The best part of wine is that it's up to our own taste buds to decide.
- Jim
