Bordeaux’s finest wine regions are defined by bodies of water: the Gironde estuary, the Garonne, the Dordogne, as well as smaller rivers which affect local growing conditions, all of which have evolved soil types. The position of vineyards to the bodies of water are vital to the many styles of wine grown across Bordeaux. In Burgundy, water is less of an obvious factor but the small streams that fall down the escarpment in Côte d’Or create mini-valleys and influence soil types. In different ways, water is all-important to the two most significant French regions.