Basic Explanation of Tastes and Flavours of Wine

I tend to look for wine reviews in newspapers, magazines, on television or online and it has baffled me on a number of occasions about tasting terms the "wine experts" use.  Some examples; For a Heathcote Shiraz..."belly of the hare", a Coonawarra Cabernet..."dirty filter pads" and for a Pinot Noir..."a peacock's tail of flavours".  I can picture how the flavours of a good Pinot can open up (to use another wine term, sorry) but, I have never tasted the belly of a hare and I definitely do not want to taste a dirty filter pad.  These sort of descriptions are, admittedly, not the norm.  There are literally hundreds of words used but the most common include ones like cherry, blackberry, blueberry and plum for reds and grassy, gooseberry, citrus and fruit salad for whites.  You are probably wondering how a grape can seem to have the flavours and/or aromas of other fruits.  Basically (and boy do I mean basically) certain grape varieties have the same flavour and/or aroma compounds as other fruits and, as such, can taste and smell similar.  The Olfactory receptors on the tongue send a signal to the brain which says (work with me here please people), "hello hello, I've tasted that before when you ate (for example) plums".  Regardless of the scientific jargon, many things can alter our taste buds.  There are some fruits we may have never eaten so would not recognise it's flavour in a wine and let's not forget food brings out flavours, and certain textures, in wine.  As I have said before, wine is, and always will be, personal.  'Til next time and remember to live simply, laugh often, wine alot.