"It's gotta be Banksy," I muttered aloud, to nobody in particular..

For the record, I was not being entirely serious.

Nevertheless, the joking naivety of my whispered statement concerning the identity of the artist on the label of the 2022 vintage from Château Mouton-Rothschild - at that time, still a closely guarded secret - betrays my fragile knowledge of the world of modern and contemporary art.

I am no modern-art expert, and it might not surprise you to learn what little knowledge I have has been accumulated through my life in wine.

While I once thought - perhaps thirty years ago - that wine was little more than fermented grape juice in a glass, I have since learnt it to be so much more. Allow wine into your life (should that read to take over your life?) and it opens a portal, one which leads to a deeper understanding of farming, agriculture, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, history and human culture.

Which of course includes art, in all its forms.

Indeed, the more time you spend in Bordeaux, the more exposed you are 20th-century art and sculpture, from the myriad pieces dotted in and around Château Smith-Haut-Lafite, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château d'Arsac and the like, to single large installations, like those of Bernar Venet - one artist whose works I am familiar with - at Château Haut-Bailly and Château Dassault.

By the way, if you are wondering what makes Venet's metal sculptures so recognisable, even to my untrained eye, take a look at the 2007 label for Mouton-Rothschild; it bears an image of an archetypal Venet work.

Talk of Venet brings us neatly back to Mouton-Rothschild and its labels, undeniably the best-known wine and art association in existence. This association can be traced back as far as the 1924 label, designed by Jean Carlu (1900 - 1997), although it was the V for Victory label, commissioned to mark the end of World War II in 1945, which kick-started the annually renewed artist's label. That first label was the work of Philippe Jullian (1919 - 1977), but since then the labels have featured original and reproduced works of art by Dali, Bacon, Picasso and other luminaries..

Late last year I was one of a number of lucky guests invited to Château Mouton-Rothschild to witness the unveiling of the artwork by the latest artist to have the honour of joining this roll-call of famous names, selected for the 2022 vintage. Looking around, other than the three Rothschilds siblings - Julien, Philipp and Camille - who now run the property, and their director Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, I saw very few familiar faces. Many if not the majority of those gathered around the low stage were, it seemed to me, from the world of art, rather than the world of wine.

Realising that, I decided not to mutter aloud my Banksy 'tip' again.

After all, sometimes it is better to keep quiet and be thought an idiot, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. At least, that is what some of my schoolteachers told me.

Instead, when the artist was revealed - to gasps of appreciation from the crowd - I joined in with the appreciative applause, safe in the knowledge that this was not Banksy. Unless, like Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne (revealing some non-vinous cultural linchpins here), the renowned French painter Gérard Garouste, a graduate of the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, has a secret life as a Bristol-based graffiti artist.

Well, you never know.

Perhaps I should tell you about the wine.

I tasted and drank six wines, which rather neatly touched on all of the Bordeaux estates associated with this particular branch of the Rothschild family. There were two vintages of Mouton-Rothschild, an example of the second wine Le Petit Mouton, as well as wines from the two other Rothschild properties, Château d'Armailhac and Château Clerc-Milon. The sixth wine was one that I have tasted more than a few times in Bordeaux, either at the primeurs or after bottling, but which I have rarely seen outside these times; Mouton-Rothschild's white, Aile d'Argent.

The four Mouton-Rothschild wines were all on a theme of '2', in keeping with the revealing of the 2022 label artist. The 2022 Aile d'Argent was an absolute charmer, much more so than I expected. This warm and dry vintage would not be my first choice for whites from Bordeaux (go for 2024 instead - this is a brilliant vintage for whites) nevertheless this displayed an unanticipated sense of freshness. It is a real success for Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, the director, who arrived here in 2021.

Outperforming expectation seemed to be a theme running through the first few wines on this occasion, as I was also struck by the textural confidence of the 2012 Le Petit Mouton. The 2012 vintage is not being one of my favourites in recent decades but this wine, made under the supervision of Jean-Emmanuel's predecessor Philippe Dhalluin, put on a classy show. Perhaps being brought directly up from the estate's cellar, having never left the estate since it was bottled, gave it the helping hand it needed?

The pièce de résistance, however, were the two vintages of Mouton-Rothschild. Unlike the 2012 second wine, the 2002 Mouton-Rothschild seemed much truer to its vintage of origin, with a faded hue, rather bright and pure aromatics - always the best feature of the 2002 vintage - and a rather lightly composed palate. It is a joy to drink, but it could not hold a candle to the 1982 Mouton-Rothschild poured alongside. But then it was hardly a fair fight; this latter wine hails from a vintage widely acknowledged as being great, it has maturity on its side, and it was poured from a larger format (which always helps), in this case a magnum. It was one of the better encounters with mature Mouton-Rothschild I think I have ever had.

I should also mention the 2015 d'Armailhac and 2009 Clerc-Milon, both good wines, although my preference would be to drink the latter. Unless there is a magnum of the 1982 Mouton-Rothschild to hand, that is - then I think you know what my preference would be.

Indeed, I could drink that 1982 until the cows come. Or until Banksy gets his long-overdue spot on the Mouton-Rothschild label. Whichever comes later.