Here is the analogy I give to people about aging wine.
Wine is like potato salad. When you make it, it tastes like potatoes, onions, celery and mayo. After a day it starts to taste like potato salad, after 2 days it really gets good, but by then...its all gone and you can't taste it any more.
Wine is the same way, day 1...it tastes like grapes, yeast, tannins, etc. day 30 it starts to taste like wine, day 180 it is now a good tasting wine. The beauty of waiting is that, unlike the potato salad, you have all of it to taste for a while. And most wines just keep getting better.