In addition to the fruit and oak aromas there are other, secondary aromas that derive from the terroir (climate+soil) that produced the grapes. Grapes grown in a rocky or chalky vineyard will often have a flinty or minerally aroma. This is particularly noted in regions such as Burgundy, Germany and the Loire Valley, particularly Pouilly Fumé.
Other regions also have their conventions, such as ‘asparagus’ for New Zealand Sauvignon, often due to the clones of Sauvignon employed and ‘sweaty saddles’ for Hunter Valley Shiraz. Other broad conventions for these secondary aromas include ‘spicy’ or ‘peppery’ (Shiraz), ‘gamey’ (Grenache), and ‘woodsy’ or ‘earthy’ (Pinots).
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These terms and phrases can be referred to as conventions. They represent a universal language of wine tasters, and if you say of a Cabernet that it has “a rich aroma of ripe blackcurrant fruit,” most tasters will understand the character that you are referring to even though it doesn’t really smell like a pint of blackcurrants at the grocery store. Other associations are sometimes useful, but if they do not correspond to an accepted convention, then they will be less useful in communicating with other tasters that don’t share your vocabulary.