In 1929, there were 14 wine chateaus in Merignac.

By competing with one another to buy wine chateaus, they have increased chateau prices five- and tenfold.

Great wine chateaus - and probably dancing girls, too - are expected to pay their way or to lose as little as possible.

In Paris, Baron Eric looked back at the glory days of the family's wine chateaus.

The fact is that few of the great wine chateaus were ever much more than investments to be visited once or twice a year, for a party or two.

Moreover, Mr. Dethier says, the group will examine the economics and the esthetics of wine chateaus.

Almost single-handedly, she has turned a respectable old wine chateau into one of the stars of Bordeaux.

A few weeks ago, at a dinner in Bordeaux, France, someone suggested that he might buy a wine chateau.

That portion is Chateau Malmaison (wine chateaus traditionally have a chateau on the property - but not all do).

But Bordeaux has always attracted successful people who see a wine chateau as the crowning achievement of a successful career.