(Bloomberg) - Over lunch on the stone terrace at Château Fonplégade in St. Emilion, France, owners Stephen and Denise Adams took in the sweeping views of their neat rows of organic vines.

The American couple bought the estate in 2004 and spent millions to restore it, including $1 million just to rebuild a critical vineyard retaining wall.

Maybe you’re one of those wine lovers who think people like the Adamses are living the ultimate wine fantasy. You’re not alone.

Two packed seminars on how to buy a Bordeaux château, held at wine trade fair VinExpo three weeks ago, show just how widespread the fantasy is.

Dreamers from all over the world were scribbling notes and listening intently to a panel of experts, via headphone translations in English and Chinese. One by one, real estate brokers, architects, bankers, lawyers, and surveyors, part of a network called WI & NE (www.wi-ne.fr), outlined what to know before taking the heady plunge.

It Takes Time

First, in case you’re thinking of flying to Bordeaux during your summer vacation to snap up a chateau, forget it.

“You don’t buy a wine estate just like that,” real estate broker David Lawton, the president of the network group, told the audience.  “The process takes about six months to a year. It’s important to see a variety of properties. And you need a team of specialists to help you assess the risks.”

Don’t let that discourage you. The owning-a-chateau fantasy costs less than you might imagine. Yes, in prestigious appellations such as Pauillac (home to Château Lafite-Rothschild) vineyards cost up to €3 million ($3.3 million) a hectare. (The Adamses paid $37 million, but Fonplégade is a Grand Cru Classé whose neighbors include Château Quintus, owned by first-growth estate Château Haut-Brion.)

According to several real estate brokers, about 80 percent of the Bordeaux châteaux typically on the market are priced at less than €5 million, with many in the €2 million to €3 million category. If you’re American, today’s weak euro will boost your purchasing power. But don’t expect properties at this price point to produce the kind of stellar wines you find at top châteaux. Most of them are in pretty, lesser-known appellations whose wines are labeled basic Bordeaux or Bordeaux Superieur. 

Later, I stopped by the booth of Maxwell-Storrie-Baynes, the Bordeaux real estate affiliate of Christie’s international vineyard program, which was displaying seductive photos of chateaux for sale. One of the firm’s executive partners, Michael Baynes, told me that a recent client, a former New York investment banker, had looked first in the Napa Valley and then found an estate in Bordeaux for half Napa’s going price.

You’ll Need Help

Much of the VinExpo seminar was devoted to the necessity of getting professional advice at each phase: before you buy, while finalizing the deal, and post-sale in managing your estate.

Surveyor Michel Martin, for example, pointed out that a plan of the vineyards might reveal discrepancies—a mistake of half a hectare could make a big difference in the price. An accountant stressed the importance of an audit of winery equipment and debts. Representatives from laboratories explained the need to analyze the soil in the vineyard, check vines for disease, and make sure that plantings conform to French regulations.