Sauternes - Will time "thicken" them?

[wdonovan]

I posted this in novice and got no information. The question is about late harvest botrytis wines in general and the effect of time on the fullness of the wine. Maybe someone here can help.

We just uncorked a 375 of '96 (I think) Madonna BA and it was one of the thickest, fullest late harvests we've drunk in a while. The confusion came when I read the price tag at $13.25 American bucks. I know I didn't buy this more than a year (or two) ago and it hadn't survived the store since '96 so .... I was wondering why it was so cheap and so good. My theory is that time has actually enrichened this wine because I just can't believe that a BA this full could be that cheap. Can time have that kind of affect on a late harvest or is this just dumb luck?BTW I have one left.