I was sitting at the cool blue bar, nursing a flute of champagne and talking to the skinny bartender about merlot. Then the door swung open and two blonde, hourglass-figured goddesses entered, both wearing short, low-cut cocktail dresses and sharp stiletto heels. The slightly taller elegant blonde’s dress was wedding-cake white, and the other’s was midnight black. They both smiled at me with their perfect pearly whites. Immediately behind these bookend beauties was the short, handsome and mysterious Mr. Vino wearing, of course, a beautiful and expensive dark blue Italian suit.

He greeted me warmly and introduced his lovely companions: Mary Melons was the one in white and Talley Ho was the one in black. Besides being full-time supermodels, the two women were masters of wine, the highest degree of learning in the wine biz.

As always, Mr. Vino ordered dinner for all of us; filet – very rare and tender.

“Well, my friend, it’s time that we discuss Bordeaux and the great chateau in the Medoc,” he said. “It begins with the classification of 1855, where a group of wine brokers created a hierarchy of wine that is still highly regarded today. Wines from Medoc and also from Sauternes, another great wine-growing area in Bordeaux, were excluded from the original classification because they weren’t as well developed back then. Sixty wines were classified by price and quality, from the ‘first growth,’ or premiers crus, to ‘fifth growth.’ The first original growths include Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion.”

In the wine trade over time, some fifth growths have overtaken some second growth in overall quality. But no one has ever questioned the greatness of first growth, so that is what we drank that night.

Mr. Vino smiled, and Mary Melons opened the first bottle as our dinner arrived.

“The first wine we are having, handsome, is a 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild,” she said in a musical voice. “This wine was elevated to first-growth status from second-growth in 1973 by the French minister of agriculture. The estate covers 175 acres. Eighty-five percent is rich cabernet sauvignon and the balance is aromatic cabernet franc and smooth merlot. They make 20,000 to 30,000 cases of wine.”

I spoke to the nodding approval of the ladies and the dancing eyes of Mr. Vino, “What I have always loved about Mouton is the art on the labels.”

“The late Baron Philippe and his wife, Pauline, were art collectors, and have an art museum related to wine, which they installed on the estate in 1962,” Talley interjected. “Since 1946, a different artist has been invited to grace the top of the labels with a reproduction of their art in exchange for cases of wine.”

Mr. Vino poured me another glass of Mouton as I put my two cents in. “This label was created by the great film director John Huston,” I said. “He was also an excellent painter.”

“Yes, I had dinner with him once,” Mr. Vino said. “He had a passion for beautiful women, fast horses and great wine.”

Talley lifted her glass and began the toast: “To the late, great John Huston!”

We clinked glasses, and Mary told us how much she loved African Queen with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Then she brought the conversation back to Mouton. “Other gifted artists that have contributed art include Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso,” she said. “Mouton also owns Mouton Baronne Philippe and Clerc Milon, and has the proprietary brand Mouton Cadet.”

Mary opened another bottle, this time a 1997 Opus One.

“I have always loved Opus One, even though nowadays it seems a bit overpriced,” Mr. Vino said with a smile. “Baron Philippe de Rothschild saw the beauty of Napa Valley and knew that it could produce world-class wine. So he sought out pioneering California winemaker Robert Mondavi to produce a wonderful cabernet blended with small amounts of cabernet franc and merlot. They started producing wine in 1979, and have become synonymous with great California red wine.

“Baron Philippe died in 1988 at the age of 85, after having run Mouton since 1922,” Mr. Vino concluded sadly. “A great man, and now a legend.”

I started the toast, “To Baron Philippe.” Our wine glasses clinked, and I tasted the elegant, big red wine as Mary Melons smiled at me.