Wine Aging

I have been wondering about wine aging for quite a while. So many of the best wines I have tasted have been aged for quite some time. As I have started getting more wine, and getting more into wine, some of it stays around the house longer than just a few days or weeks.

At the same time, I was tasting more wine than before. Often, I tasted wines that hadn't been bottled yet. Almost without exception, the best wines I taste aren't yet at their prime.

So, I started really wondering about how wine aging works. I had two real questions. First, how important is precise temperature control? Second, why not age wines at 64F or 71F (but rock stable) to bring them to their prime sooner? I can't find good answers to either of these. It seems like cellars used to be around 55f, so 55f is accepted. But it does not seem as though there's much in the way of proper analysis of wine aging. Why not?

http://www.wineperspective.com/STORAGE%20TEMPERATURE%20&%20AGING.htm

http://wineanorak.com/cellaring_wine_temperature_humidity.htm