sentences:  The Gironde estuary and its tributaries, the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers play a pivotal role in the history and success of this region.Bordeaux wine production seems to have begun sometime after 43 AD, during the Roman occupation of Gaul, when the Romans established vineyards to cultivate wine for the soldiers.However, it is only in 71 AD that Pliny the Elder recorded the first real evidence of vineyards in Bordeaux.