château

le château (FR N-M) castle, feudal dwelling fortified with moats, walls, towers; royal or lordly dwelling (palace, manor); dwelling of someone holding vast properties, large and beautiful country house; names of wine varieties, assigned by the names of the vineyard properties and their associated houses. Some of the most beautiful chateaux in the world can be found in a great concentration in France's Loire valley, where the nobility went to relax and hunt after the rigorous formalities of…