It’s no secret that many Virginia vinters like Bordeaux blends. In fact, you’ll sometimes hear wineries mention that Bordeaux and Virginia have a lot in common in terms of climate.

Both areas are rainy. Bordeaux gets an average of 36 inches of rain a year. Northern Virginia gets an average of 38 inches a year. And because of that rain, there is some commonality in the wine: more tang, less overt fruit and some vegetal notes (but in a good way).

But, other than that, they’re different.

As you can see from the map above, Bordeaux is roughly on the same latitude as Minneapolis — it’s a lot cooler. Virginia, on the other hand, is on the same latitude as southern Italy and Sicily. Bordeaux has a temperate ocean climate and Virginia has a humid subtropical climate.

Bordeaux has cool days and cool nights. Virginia has hot days and hot nights. (Napa Valley, for that matter, has hot days and cool nights.)

So are we like southern Italy then? Should we all start planting Italian varietals? Although we share a common latitude, our climate is far wetter during the summer and colder in the winter than Italy.

The takeaway lesson: Virginia’s climate is unique, and nowhere in France or Italy quite compares to it.