Just as in commercial winemaking, the longevity of the wine depends on the grape variety and the winemaking style. Long-lived wines are generally those high in either acid (which helps prevent spoilage) or tannin (which helps prevent oxidation).

Concentrate wines are usually drinkable 3 to 6 months after bottling, and may remain at their peak from 1 to 3 years (depending on the grape variety).

If you are producing the wine from fresh grapes, some decisions you make will affect the lifetime of the wine. Red wines get their color and tannin from the grape skins, on which the wine ferments for the first few days to a few weeks. The longer the the wine is left "on the skins," the more tannic it will become. More tannic wines are astringent and somewhat difficult to drink when young. But they are longer-lived, and produce more complex wines after aging. The "Reserve" bottles of commercial wine are often wines made with longer skin-time and longer aging on oak. This adds to the complexity, aging potential, and expense of the wine.

White wines are generally shorter-lived than red wines. However, a typical white made from fresh grapes should last for up to 5 years or so. Fruit wines reach there peak after about 1 year and slowly lose their fresh fruitiness thereafter.

Wally, You left out an important factor in wine storage; tempature. If you leave your wine in the kitchen in 750ml bottles, on top of the refrigerator, I would expect to see a marked decrease in wine quality within a year. Stable and cool temps, like comercial wine cellars are set to 53 degrees with 65+% humidity. This is an unrealistic ideal for most people, but the more stable the better. Basements are the best place for most, as long as they are not in the laundry room where temps fluctuate when the dryer is on.
I am one of those geeks with a 1k bottle room with a vinotemp refer unit. I find that storing my fresh homemade wines in there takes a very long time to become drinkable. I need to leave it at room temp for at least 6 months before bottling and racking it in the wine room. There is thermal protection in volume; a room that changes from 55 at night to 70 in the day will cause a 15 degree change in a 750 ml bottle vs. a 3 degree change in a 6 gallon carboy.
cool is good but stable adds longevity to your wines, regardless of the vineferra.

barry's right, temp. is the most important factor for storing wine. my room
stays at 65 deg. all the time and i have wine there that's 5 yrs. old, although most of my wine gets drank within the first year.
gary