Columbia wine critic Richard Fadeley

At the time his wine industry consultants named four. The fifth (Chateau Mouton Rothschild) was added in the early 1970s. Called a “horizontal,” our tasting was a sampling of the same 1996 vintage for all five chateaux: Haut– Brion, Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Latour, and Margaux.

The best of the bunch, inarguably, was the Margaux. Second best, arguably, was the Mouton Rothschild, the newcomer among the first growths. Bandied about the Mouton were descriptives like aggressive, serious, gussied up, and ripe cabernet.

There was even more argument over numbers three, four, and five, but they came in roughly this order of preference: (3) Latour, (4) Haut–Brion, and (5) Lafite. The joke here is Lafite carries the most prestige, the greatest cachet, and it’s the bottom of the heap. Even funnier, Lafite is getting $500 for its 1996, while the better Latour and Margaux sell for $350. The Mouton and the Haut–Brion, still voted better than the Lafite, sell for only $250. “Only” gets abused here as a qualifier for wine worth hundreds, but it makes the point.

Wine teacher John Laird of Diageo The auction followed the tasting, and altogether the 10 bottles sold totaled $3,350. The big event was the 1906 Margaux which sold for $1,250. A reception was held on the same floor. More wine was served along with assorted pick–up food items.

Bob Sabatini of Ben Arnold Wines At $100 a seat and with auction items coming up to $1,250, the host for the event, Central Carolina Community Foundation, did all right. The tasters did all right, too, but next year there should be a bigger space with bigger prices. After all, this is for charity.