I agree with the poetry aspect.

The first is winespeak, a snobbish, intimidating and often alienating dialect. Here’s an actual example from a leading wine site: “The nose offers up a bountiful bouquet of dark red plum, cassis, rose petal and a touch of minty herbs. The palate is soft and plush, with notes of tobacco, cedar and cigar box. Medium, drying tannins leave you thirsting for more.”

I find nothing wrong with this description or more importantly, nothing that the average person couldn't understand. Perhaps people would have to educate themselves as to what tannins are, but what's wrong with that? Pull out the smart phone people.

This, however is absolutely true:

I assure you that the thought of drying tannins never made me thirst for anything.

I actually find that more and more wine stores and restaurant menu's are dumbing it down. They tend to have images of fruit or a scale of drinkability etc. -I'm against such things.

I was actually asked to join a startup that a friend was creating that was going to make it easy for people to describe, save and share wines they liked with their friends. I immediately realized that I wasn't the consumer they had in mind. I wanted an app that could educate, they wanted one that could ameliorate something that I felt didn't need it.

Wine is fine, just how it is. If you feel it's not approachable, maybe it's because you're not trying...

I'm looking forward to a chateauneuf du pape I've had sitting around, I'm told it has notes of anise, sweaty saddle and bandaid. -Mmmmm delicious.