Here’s an opportunity for wine lovers to support a great cause and taste some wonderful wine. Each May, the American Heart Association sponsors Heart’s Delight—the premier wine-auction event in the DC area—with the support of several leading Bordeaux châteaux and some top restaurants in Washington and from around the country. This year’s event, which runs Thursday, May 8, through Saturday, May 10, features the outstanding 2005 vintage, which has been heralded as one of the best in Bordeaux for several years.

This year’s will be the ninth annual Heart’s Delight, which since its founding has raised more than $6 million to help the AHA’s efforts against coronary disease. (Full disclosure: The Washingtonian is a media sponsor of this year’s event, and I am on the auction committee that has put together most of the auction lots.)

Saturday’s schedule includes a seated tasting of the 2005 vintage from 20 classed-growth (top-ranked) Bordeaux châteaux, with the winemakers or winery owners presenting their wines. This will be followed by a silent auction and walk-around tasting, with chefs from across the country offering samples of their cuisine. Saturday evening ends with a live auction that includes several luxury lots of rare wines and trips to wine regions around the world.

The event is a splurge: Admission to Saturday’s seated tasting and the evening reception and auction run $500 a person ($250 is tax deductible), and admission to the evening alone is $250 ($125 deductible). But this is an opportunity to taste some top wines from a fantastic vintage while supporting a very worthy cause.

For more information and to order tickets, click here.