1980 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château de Beaucastel
Last evening we enjoyed our last bottle of the 1980 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the final bottle of a case, which we must have bought in the earlyish 1980s direct from Beaucastel. This was before we bought in the Loire and used to spend our summer holidays in campsite in a pine forest a few kilometres north of Vaison-la-Romain.
It was perfect with our plainly roasted pheasant from Billings in Sydenham – a bargain at £5.99 a bird. The 1980 had a rich, opulent nose and very soft, caressing palate. Our bottle would doubtless still have been drinkable for a number of years. However, I doubt whether it would have developed further.
