Château Nozet, château in Pouilly-sur-Loire, France

Château Nozet stands at the end of a small valley opening onto the Loire in Pouilly-sur-Loire. Only the south and east wings remain of a larger complex, forming an L of two rectangular residential blocks. Each northeast and southeast corner carries a large round tower with a crown of false machicolations under a pepper-pot slate roof; a cut-cornered tower with spire and lantern rises at the centre of the park facade, and a corbelled turret hangs at the southwest corner.

The land and manor of Nozet were given in 1234 to the Benedictines of La Charité-sur-Loire, who became temporal lords of Pouilly. The château was ruined and rebuilt several times, most recently in 1651. During the Revolution it became a national asset, and in 1798 the Paris wine merchant Étienne Louis Lafond bought it. It was rebuilt in the mid-19th century for Count Lafond de la Doucette in neo-Renaissance style.

The estate's white wines were among Napoleon's favourites, according to an anecdote, and received the Pouilly-Fumé AOC in 1937. Baron Patrick de Ladoucette took over in 1972 and named his top cuvée Baron de L., made only in the best years. The flinty silex soil gives the wines their smoky scent.

The château stands at the end of a small valley opening onto the Loire, on the right bank near Pouilly-sur-Loire. Only the south and east wings of the former 50-by-40-metre complex survive, so the building is seen from outside along the lawn and among the surrounding vineyards. The estate is a working wine property, and its Pouilly-Fumé carries the AOC granted in 1937.

During World War I, the building served as a field hospital for the French Red Cross, treating wounded soldiers throughout the conflict. This medical role ended when peace came, and few visitors realize this chapter of its past.