Opening older wines means that the cork will break off before it’s all out or even fall apart as this one did. The 1983 Chateau de Beaucastle Chateauneuf-du-Pape is at peak.
A simple rule is that however long it takes a wine to perfectly mature is the same length of time that it will hold before it begins to falter in taste and aroma. This wine was scored as 19 points on the 20 point-scale and paired well with roast beef during the entrée and again with bites of strawberry for dessert. It was indeed a Gold Medal wine. In vino veritas.
Tim
Excellent. I’m not sure I could have drunk this any other way but on its own, but it sounds like it paired well with your meal, this 30+ yr old classic.