First, lets start with taste and perception.  Not all people taste wine the same.  This is due primarily to the structure of our senses.  On average a person has 5,000 taste buds, Super tasters have up to 10,000 and some have none!  Those are very significant differences in numbers: that combined with our olfactory senses (sense of smell) and the ways in which we interpret them create a very unique and personal wine experience.
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, lets talk about Red Wine; the best of it, the worst of it, what to eat with it, and where it comes from.  The first wines known to man existed in Iran and Armenia somewhere between 8,000 BC and 6,000 BC.  These wines were made much like the wines of today in that they went through the same processes to get from grape to wine; however, what has changed is what does the work at each stage of production, for example adolescent feet have been abandoned for mechanical presses. 
Since we are on the topic of presses, I think it is important to note that as all grapes are pressed, and whether they are red skinned or white, all the juice that runs off is called “maceration.” 
During maceration the freshly pressed juice is left to sit on the grapes skins, seeds and stems for varied lengths of time.  This contact is what gives red wine its color.  When we talk about serving red wine, some people believe that all red wines need to be decanted, transferring wine into a pouring vessel (usually glass) that allows it to breathe (release the aromas and flavors of the wine) and assisting separating the juice from the sediment (left over deposits of the wine).  This is not true.  The only wines that need to be decanted are older, big, full bodied reds like that of Bordeaux, Italy and California and Ports that are aged 10 years or longer. Obviously anytime you can see the sediment at the bottom of a bottle, it can benefit from being decanted.
The best red wines come from regions where the growing conditions are favorable for the particular grapes being grown there.  When we speak about growing conditions we are talking about climate and weather, amount of daily sunlight during the growing season, temperature, soil composition, water (availability, quality and irrigation, disease resistance (ones that either occur naturally or the ability to maintain man made buffers) and location (altitude, proximity to large bodies of water and access to vineyards for routine maintenance and inspection for both individuals on foot and necessary equipment). 
The old world region in which most, if not all, of these conditions are favorable is Bordeaux, France, where the wines evolve and improve with age and where you can drink a 100 year old Ch. Latour with confidence.  The #1 New World region is Napa Valley, California where the 1968 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon is at its peak.