If you’ve only had a few glasses of wine in your life, or if you are a member of more than one internet wine of the month club, you probably know that Bordeaux is famous for its wine. Do you know why though?

Bordeaux is, at its core a humble village a few hours outside of Paris. Luckily, it is named for the Bordeaux river which gave wine growers in the region easy access to markets in both Paris and as time went by, London. For generations, Paris and London were the center of the world economy, exactly during the time period when Bordeaux made a name for itself.

So why is the wine still famous today? To start, no region in the world can even come close to matching the history at play in Bordeaux, that certainly helps. Secondly and most importantly, the region has been the center of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot production for 200 years or more. Those are the most consumer friendly grapes in the world and Bordeaux has specialized in them since the outset.