OK, I have re-read the thread and have to agree with some of his statements and disagree with others. He is correct that the wine will probably not develop any further and indeed most US made wines are intended to be consumed upon purchase. They will store for a period of time but they are not going to develop any more. This is due to the manufacturing process he described.
Many lower cost commercial wines are made much like the kit wines we make only on a larger scale. Most kit wines are intended to be consumed within 5 years. We age in bulk or bottles as the wine is still raw after fermentation. The wineries will age the wine in bulk such as we do until it is ready for consumption. It is then bottled and shipped. It is about as good as it will get.
The closure thing he talks about does not hold water in my opinion to much of an extent. Yes, wine will breath through a cork and eventual oxidation will occur. Caps can inhibit this over corks but in general, the quality of the wine is influenced by the quality of the fruit and the quality of the winemaking process. Many high dollar wineries are very select in the grapes they use. The brix will be perfect, the weather during the growing season will be perfect, etc. Most of the inexpensive wine makers just buy grapes or more likely juice concentrate on the open market. The quality is not 100% known or really cared about.
Wines like you are talking about (2 Buck Chuck) is over run wines or wines that don't meet a wineries specifications already manufactured that is bought on the open market and bottled under contract and their label stuck on it. It also could be wines made by vineyards from their own grapes but are not commercial wineries. This wine may be the same wine as higher priced wines setting next to it on the shelf. I can buy this wine myself if I choose and bottle it myself or by a contract and sell it. There is no winemaking process involved. Sometimes it is great, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Just because it is 2 Buck Chuck and a cheap selling wine has nothing to do with it's aging potential. It is the winemaking process and the care in each step that determines the aging potential of the wine.
I hope this answered a few of your questions. So, yes, he is right on some stuff and IMHO off key on others. You don't have to drink it up immediately but it won't last in a wine rack for numerous years. I opened a bottle of a 1996 Turning Leaf Merlot a couple days ago. It was vinegar. If it had been stored in perfect cellar conditions, it "might" of still been good but you don't really know. Not many have "perfect" storage conditions.
Smurfe
