As an expert witness, I know what it’s like to sound smart, even if sometimes you’re holding on to the rail… But one of the areas in which I certainly don’t sound smart is when describing how wine tastes. I have practiced a lot, and I’m willing to do more, but you’d think after all these years I’d be able to describe a tannin, or differentiate a cherry from a blackcurrant. I don’t know if I’ll ever taste “horse leather” or some of those other crazy, pretentious descriptors people use, but the simple ones seem doable.

I recently found a great article on the Business Insider website. It makes sense and might help you, like it did for me, to better understand what we’re drinking–and then talk about it.