Catching a wine as it transforms

I have had the opportunity recently to catch a couple of my wines just as they seem to be transforming from primary to at least secondary characteristics, starting the climb up to that "plateau of maturity" where presumably they will drink at their best. But the transformation time is in its own way equally exciting, as if watching a child slide into adolescence or adulthood.

My recent experiences along these lines have included the 1998 Pegau Reservee, the last bottle of which really struck me as having turned the corner, with the primary fruit giving way to a much subtle and complicated interplay of almost Burgundian themes on the nose and the palate. Another example was the 2000 Fevre Bougros Cotes des Bouguerots, maybe a little less far along, but showing the first signs of shedding those raw citrus and nervous minerality notes in favor of a more seamless integration of the two, the appearance of a more prominent floral character, and a sappier, rounded mouthfeel.

My most recent example was the other evening, a 2000 Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape, a bottle I was a little worried about given some of my own and other people's experiences with the 2000 Chateauneuf. But this one was in beautiful shape, with those primary "fruity" flavors having apparently just given way to an aromatic and palate profile in which ripe fruit is only one of the components. The result ultimately is a wine with much greater intensity of flavor, a distinct enhancement of spice, and a deeper and more layered nose. This is still far from a legendary wine, but it seems to be fulfilling its initial promise, making the best of the raw materials with which it is endowed.  If I had bought only a couple of bottles of this wine, I probably would never have caught this fleeting transformation...