Nothing intimidates the casual wine-drinker like the back of a wine bottle, where you find strings of flashy adjectives that sound completely unrelated to grapes or wine. A run-of-the-mill brand can fling phrases at you like mineral-driven depth, earthy elements, and wet stone. Sure, nodding along during a tasting at a vineyard makes people feel cultured, but dragging the act into the wine aisle is a different story.

Want to know a secret? No one knows everything about winemaking. Even veteran sommeliers and seasoned snobs still have things to learn, and that makes wine interesting. It may seem like a luxury hobby, but if you look behind the extended pinkies and charcuterie boards, the language is as easy to swallow as The Anarchist Outré Blend, our tantalizing 7-varietal white wine. Let’s uncork just a few of those classic wine descriptors and break down what they actually mean.

Leather: Do notes of leather mean you should taste couches and saddles in your Cabernet? Not likely. Leather usually points to an aroma or texture that develops when wine matures. Young wines show off fruity flavors, but with age, oxygen, and oak, the fruit starts to mellow and savory notes bloom. That’s when we start talking leather.

Our Prodigal Merlot presents a perfect example: this wine is noted for its rich blackberry aroma with hints of leather and cocoa. That just tells you it’s a lush, complex Merlot that spent time in oak barrels and evolved beyond simple fruity flavors.

Vanilla: No, vanilla in wine will not make it taste like a latte. Vanilla primarily denotes aroma, rather than body or mouthfeel. But, like leather, that vanilla smell comes from the oak barrels—especially newer barrels. Compounds like vanillin in the wood imbue wine with the spicy-sweet scent you might not have noticed. For example, our Conspiracy Theory red blend is aged in oak and greets you with a scent of “sweet vanilla spice.” Don’t think frosting and ice cream. Think cinnamon and cloves.

Minerality: If anyone describes wine to you as evoking gunflint, wet stone, or chalk, they usually mean the minerality. Don’t let these phrases intimidate you. Remember it’s not a a literal flavor, but a more of metaphor. Tasters have to get creative to describe the subtle differences of each new vintage. Have you breathed this in before? Maybe after a rainy hike or rinsing off a rock you found at the beach? High-acid wines from cooler climates often have this trait: they’re not about lush fruit, but more about freshness and acidity. It’s the opposite of “jammy” or “oaky.” What’s fun about describing wine like this is that even if you can’t tell the difference yet, a lot of other people can’t either, and they will nod right along.

When you get past its over-the-top vibe, the colorful vocabulary of the wine universe serves an important role. For connoisseurs of fine wine, like the team at AWC, “suggestions of freshly rolled cigar” actually means something(especially when used to describe our Freudian Slip!). When winemakers wave their magic wands, controlling factors from the type of yeast fermenting the grape juice to the temperature of the barrel room, they’re crafting something special that’s far more complex than just “red” or “white.” It becomes an experience. The bottle may not contain herbs or spices, no sawdust or seashell, but it’s a way for experts truly steeped in the process to explain the complexity of what’s waiting to be uncorked.

That said, you don’t need to speak fluent “wine” to enjoy it. If the flowery language ever overwhelms you, just keep a few points in mind:

Trust your own senses: Forget “granite” or “slate.” What does it remind you of? Rain on pavement? Fresh herbs? Just “wine”? All valid – there are no wrong notes if you detect them.
Skip the snobbery: If you can’t smell “oyster shell” in that glass of Chablis, you’re in good company (and it won’t make the wine any less enjoyable).
Enjoy the ride: Porch sipper or Napa deep-dive, it’s all supposed to be fun. Use whatever words make sense—even if it’s just “yum.”

So next time you’re faced with a daunting wine label, take a deep breath and remember: it’s just fermented grape juice with a cool story to tell. Whether you simply drink it or discuss it using all the funky descriptors, the goal is the same – enjoyment.