With an advance reservation, one of the easiest Médoc châteaux to visit is Château Lanessan, a neoclassical castle with English-style gardens and 19th-century greenhouse, 10km north of Margaux. You can tour just the wine cellar (one hour); visit the impressive stables built in a horseshoe-shape in 1880 with marble feed troughs, pine-paneled tack room and a museum of 19th-century horse-drawn carriages; or do both (1½ hours). The property also offers vertical wine tastings (€18; 1½ hours) and two-hour wine-blending workshops (€30).
The château also has a stylish, self-catering cottage sleeping up to six in its grounds.
