Wine has been around for millennia, but the language we use to talk about it - that came much later. And somewhere between French château culture, Oxbridge educations, Master of Wine exams, and a healthy dose of marketing fluff, things got… complicated.

What began as a way to describe and differentiate wines gradually turned into a coded language. Terms like "unctuous", "oxidative", "reductive" and "linear" weren’t inherently bad - in fact, many came from winemaking science or trade shorthand. But over time, they drifted from the cellar into the tasting room and onto the label, and instead of clarifying, they started to obscure.

Suddenly, knowing how to decode a tasting note became a skill set in itself. Want to know if a wine’s easy drinking or tightly structured? Better brush up on your terminology. Want to ask a question at a wine bar? Hope you're not worried about sounding naïve.

This divide between "those who know" and "those who don’t (yet)" has helped wine hold onto its air of mystery. But in 2025, that mystery isn’t helping. People want transparency, not puffery. They want to know what they’re drinking, who made it, and whether they’ll enjoy it - without needing a glossary and a glass of water on standby.

That’s where we come in.

At Pinot Noir New Zealand 2025, Felton Road’s Nigel Greening put it bluntly: “Instead of pontificating about minerality, texture and palate length, what’s wrong with deliciousness? Instead of ‘wait a decade,’ what’s wrong with ‘it’ll be gorgeous tonight’?”

This is the shift we want to see - and be part of. Wine doesn’t need to be explained away in obscure terms to be taken seriously. It needs to be understood, shared, and appreciated for what it is: the product of nature, people, and place. And if we can’t talk about that clearly, what are we doing?

Nigel’s comments strike at the heart of an industry that’s spent too long clinging to old ideas of exclusivity. “Fine wine,” he said, risks becoming an overpriced relic - propped up by outdated ideals and inaccessible language. Instead, he called for inclusive wine - wine that’s grown with integrity, talked about with honesty, and enjoyed without ego.

It’s not about throwing out complexity. It’s about replacing pretence with clarity, and performance with presence. Talking about wine should feel like talking about music or food - sensory, emotional, and personal. It should spark curiosity, not fear of saying the “wrong” thing.

When we shift the language, we shift the experience. And that opens the door for more people to discover, love, and connect with wine in their own way.

At Kiwi Cru, we work with winemakers who grow thoughtfully, ferment carefully, and speak truthfully. Many of them are organic, low-intervention, climate-conscious - and none of them are interested in playing the exclusivity game. They make wine with integrity and energy, not for score sheets or jargon-packed shelf talkers.

Our job is to honour that - and to invite you into the conversation without making it feel like an exam. We want to make it easier for you to choose a wine because it sounds delicious, not because it passed the WSET word test.

We’ll still talk about structure, texture, acidity, and tannins - but we’ll also say when a wine is joyful, silky, crunchy, or just plain yum. And if you ever wonder what we mean by those words? That’s not a failing - it’s a moment of connection.

Which brings us to something new we’ve created to help with exactly that.

The Kiwi Cru Wine Glossary

We’ve put together a guide to the most common (and confusing) wine terms you might see in a tasting note, a label, or a wine bar conversation. It’s friendly, clear, and hopefully helpful..

You’ll find translations for things like “lees stirring”, “fleshy Pinot”, “grippy tannins” and “reductive Chardonnay”. Not because you need to memorise them - but because understanding them might make you feel more confident when picking a bottle, or just help you talk about wine the way you already experience it.

[Explore the Kiwi Cru Glossary]