Chateau: A French Country House, and a Line on a Wine Label
A chateau is a large French country house or castle. On a wine label it means the estate where the grapes were grown, which is why so many Bordeaux wines begin with the word.
A chateau is a grand house in the French countryside, ranging from a fortified castle to an elegant eighteenth-century residence. On a wine bottle the word means something narrower: a specific estate, and in Bordeaux it is used so widely that the buildings behind the name are sometimes very modest indeed.
- A large French country house. *A chateau in the Loire valley.*
- A castle. *The chateau dominates the town.*
- A wine estate. *Chateau Margaux.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | chateau | A restored chateau. |
| Plural | chateaux / chateaus | The chateaux of the Loire. |
| French spelling | chateau | Written chateau with a circumflex in French. |
| Related | castle | A Norman castle. |
| Related | manor | An English manor house. |
How it is used in a sentence
- They spent a week at a chateau near Tours.The Loire valley is the classic setting.
- The chateaux of the Loire are a UNESCO site.French plural, and the more usual form in English writing.
- Chateau-bottled wine is bottled at the estate.A guarantee of origin on the label.
Great houses across Europe
- Chateau — French, from a fortified castle to a country residence
- Schloss — German, covering both palace and castle
- Palazzo — Italian, usually a grand town house
- Manor — English, the house of an estate
- Villa — Roman in origin, a country house with land
From French *chateau*, from Latin *castellum*, a small fort — the same root as English castle. The circumflex in the French spelling marks an s that has dropped out, which is why the older form was *chastel*.
Chateaux or chateaus?
Both appear in English. Chateaux keeps the French plural and is more common in writing about France.
Does chateau on a wine label mean a real castle?
Not necessarily. In Bordeaux it denotes a registered estate, and the building may be an ordinary farmhouse.