When Will My Wine Be At Its Best?
When a wine is at its peak is a judgment best made by the individual.
Everyone has a different idea of when any wine is at its "peak", while at the same time there comes a point in every wine's life where it just gets too old for the owner's taste. Part of the unfortunate baggage of wine lore is that "fine wine gets better with age". A more useful, but longer adage might be "wine is always developing from the time it is fermented until the time it is consumed". None would dispute that at the fermenter the wine tastes raw and incomplete, but at exactly what point thereafter is it at its best?
It's sort of like a new car. For some, it's best right from the dealership, redolent of that "New Car Smell." For others, five or ten thousand miles of break-in are required before it feels right. Others like it when they can know every sound, and exactly how it will corner, accelerate, etc., and that might take a year or two, or more. Eventually, it will begin to have problems, and someday will no longer run well, or at all. But the question remains as to when that old jalopy was actually at its best.
For most wine made today in California, and frankly in all the other New World style climates (New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, etc.), dry whites should be consumed within two to four years of vintage date, and dry reds three to seven. However, this is merely a guideline, and every person's tastes are his or her own!
To make your own gauge for your own tastes, my recommendation is to buy a case of the same wine, say a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, and enjoy a bottle that week. Try another in six months, then a year, then each year until you see no further improvement. This will be the best way for you to start learning about what you like in an aged wine (and eventually, what you don't like if it gets too old!).
Lastly, all of the above would be in reference to wines stored properly; otherwise, all bets are off. Enjoy!