As hinted at by the rows of vines at the entrance, Montaigne is a wine-producing estate. Excellent AOC Bergerac wines are produced here, as they are throughout the western part of the appellation. There is a shop in the foyer – wine tasting at the end of the visit. Only the outbuildings and the tower housing the library to which Montaigne used to retire were spared by the fire of 1885. From his bedchamber, located above the chapel, the philosopher could follow Mass through an opening in the wall. On the upper floor is the library, where the writer is said to have written his famous Essays.